Shattered Mind: Clarity
by Krimson Rogue
Summary: Peace is never permanent and chaos is quick to grab hold. As a calm resides over all of Gaia, an ancient technology gives Terra a chance at revival. Through blood and battle, song and legend, Trevor and Kaiten had fought it all, but their bonds will be tested when Kaiten's past returns and the two are pitted against each other! Final book in the Shattered Mind Saga!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer- I don't own any of the Final Fantasy characters in this story.

Author notes: Here we go guys! The conflicts are all original from here on out! Plot threads that have been weaved into the storyline and forgotten will be brought up! Epic battles for the fate of Gaia will be waged once again! And throughout it all, Trevor will find himself caught in the middle, forced to choose saving the planet he now calls home, and saving his best friend! Grab yourself some popcorn and a drink, and for God's sake Ezakiel, sit on the floor so you don't fall out of your chair!

Chapter 1: The Tempest Brotherhood.

XXXXXXXX

She ran as hard as her legs would take her. The streets of Alexandria were dark at night, and her panicked state of mind did not help her navigate in the slightest. She couldn't see her pursuer, but she could hear him, knocking over every box and discarded wine bottle that he came across. He was a spindly man, and so drunk he could barely stand, but it was the rusted dagger he had shown her that worried her the most.

He had first found the barmaid working in the tavern. He sat by himself, ordering enough wine and ale to drown a cat, grabbing her rear or reaching for it every chance he got. What had started as an unsightly encounter soon turned uglier. He waited for her outside as she left, then grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her into the alleyway. That was the first time she saw the dagger. "Scream… and I'll slit yer throat," he slurred. As he used his knife-hand to undo his belt, she found her chance to pull away and escape. She turned and ran, but not before he grabbed her blouse, tearing it and exposing a bare breast.

"SOMEONE HELP ME!" she begged, shouting as loud as she could while covering herself. She darted through alleyways, but her assailant always saw her as she turned a corner, and was able to keep up. One of the paths should have led to safety. An open plaza, a guard, a crowd, something! But wrong turn after wrong turn only led her deeper between the buildings, until she took one wrong turn too many and was faced with a dead end.

She stood in the middle of the path, with nowhere to go and no one to help. Thinking she still had time to escape, she turned back and continued running, but halted as soon as she had started. The man had found her again, cutting off her only means of escape. With dagger in hand, he approached her, angrier than before. She did all that she could do and backed into a corner. Hot tears streamed down her face and she choked on her words.

"P-Please…" she begged. "Don't do this! I-I was saving myself for…"

"Shut yer mouth!" the man threatened. He caught her again, grabbing her shoulder and shoving her to the ground so he could sit on top of her. His grimy hand caught the rest of her shirt, tearing it off and leaving it hanging from her belt. She screamed again, shouting as loudly as she could, for everyone to hear, if anyone would rescue her. But who could hear her here, in this barren alleyway?

"No, please!" she begged. "NOOOOO!"

"I SAID," he roared, holding his dagger high. "SHUT YER FUCKIN' MOUTH!"

The young woman turned her head and clenched her entire body, waiting for the attack that would end her life. However, after several seconds, nothing had happened. She felt a great weight lifted from her stomach and looked down. Two nearly identical men were standing above her. One with long hair and a black duster had thrown her would-be rapist to the ground and was busily punching him in the head. The second with shorter hair kneeled down to comfort her, offering a brown leather jacket to cover herself. He wore chain mail and a black shirt and pants underneath.

"You're safe now," he assured her. His voice was soft, but confident. He wore two long, thin blades she wasn't familiar with on his waist. "We're the Tempest Brotherhood. Once my partner is done… dealing with him, we'll gladly walk you home. No charge, of course."

Meanwhile, the other man's fists kept pulling back for another blow, covered in more and more blood. She was glad the shorter haired man was comforting her and not his partner. He looked crazy and almost seemed to enjoy himself. Though she felt no pity for her attacker, the longhaired man was going to rather extreme lengths to subdue the man.

"Trevor! That's enough! You're going to kill him at this rate! Remember what Dagger told you!"

The second man pulled his hand back and rested, but only after offering one final, solid punch, breaking the rapist's nose. The drunken thug gurgled as blood pooled in his mouth, drowning out his moans of anguish. "Right, sorry," he said. "Got carried away. Is she alright?"

The young woman kept the jacket clutched tightly to her chest. She was still crying, but felt safer already. "You're not hurt?" the calmer man asked.

"Uh, I… no. No, I think I'm alright," she sniffed. She pulled herself up and looked at her attacker. He was bleeding from every hole on his head, and his nose was bent in the wrong direction. His entire face was red now, and the blood didn't show any sign of stopping.

"My name is Kaiten Saeis," her savior said, offering a hand up. The young woman rose slowly, leaning on Kaiten for support the entire way up. "Can you tell me your name miss?"

"Oh, I'm… Chloe Hall," she finally answered. She turned for a moment to adjust the jacket, buttoning it up. "How did you know where I was?"

"We heard you screaming," Kaiten said. "We were originally tracking him, but when he took off, we lost sight of him. If it weren't for you calling for help, we might not have found him. You did well."

"Oh… thank you," Chloe said bashfully.

Meanwhile, Trevor had beaten the attacker bloody. The monster's frightening visage was now lumpy and sticky with his blood pouring out of every hole in his head. The longhaired man flipped the would-be rapist onto his stomach and began shackling his wrists and ankles. "Freddie Gillespie, for attempted rape, parole jumping, several thefts, assault, and attempted murder, you are going to be delivered to the Lindblum City Guard, where you will be arrested and properly charged. You fucking idiot."

"Um, excuse me," Chloe asked. "But, what's going on?"

"We were contracted to bring him in," Kaiten said. "He got out of prison two months ago, but missed a parole meeting three weeks ago. The Captain of the Lindblum City Watch asked us to find him. We got a tip a few days ago that he was hiding out in Alexandria, so we came in to search. You probably saved us a couple of days by running into him."

"I'll take him back to the Invincible and lock him in the brig," Trevor said, hoisting the attacker over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "Hey, since we're here, why don't we wait until morning and see Zidane and Dagger? It's been weeks since we've hung out with them."

"Fine by me," Kaiten agreed. "But it'll be a short visit. I'd like to get our target back in jail by tomorrow evening."

"Works for me. See ya on the ship."

As Trevor departed, Kaiten gently extended a hand to Chloe. "If you're ready to go Miss Hall."

Chloe held the jacket's collar tighter on one hand, but gave Kaiten the other. She followed him without a word as he led her out of the alley and back home to safety.

XXXXXXXX

Two whole years…

I had thought the time I spent traveling with the others gave me a good impression of Gaia, but I wasn't even close. As mercenaries, Kaiten and I flew everywhere and really saw the world. From the lush, green Chocobo forests to the aqueous beauty of Daguerro's flooded halls, there was so much more of Gaia to see. During our travels during the storyline, in the back of my head I had always planned to go home, but since that was all but impossible, I had made the best of my time here instead. It was a good decision.

So much had changed since Zidane came back. Kaiten and I started a business, Zidane and Dagger got married, Dante and Wayne started expanding their engineering gig (in no small part thanks to my ideas from Earth), and everyone was enjoying life. I worked with both Dagger and Minister Artania to bring more of Earth culture and ideas to Gaia. They both loved the idea of Christmas and Independence Day so much that there was talk of combining the two into a week of just celebrating life and giving gifts.

Gaia was far different from Earth, but I grew accustomed to it. Getting used to living here was an easier transition than I would have thought, thanks to living through the game. I still missed TV, Internet, and cars, but what I got instead was adventure, magic, and my own airship the size of a city block! I also had friends who I would defend to the death who would do the same for me in an instant. Plus, this way, I didn't need to study for finals.

It was pretty fun being a merc. I got to continue saving people and acting like a hero while making a decent living out of it, not as prosperous as I would have liked, but it was enough. Kaiten and I were a deadly match, working in perfect sync with nary a word spoken. Kaiten's ranged spells matched with my melee spells, though he was oft to point out his melee was still better than my own, as he proved during our sparring matches. However, that only made us better fighters, with even Kaiten seeing improvements in himself. Our training prepared us for all the missions we took on and all the monsters we battled. We fought bloodthirsty beasts and cutthroat bandits and even went on the occasional escort mission, aiding diplomats and the like. We stood as a symbol for anyone who needed help anywhere. We earned our fans.

Starting our merry band was a lengthy process. We decided to set up camp in Lindblum, mostly because it had the only air dock around that could accommodate the Invincible. Also, as the more technologically advanced city, it was closer to Earth, with running water and steam power all around us. Kaiten said he missed life on Terra, but Lindblum was advanced enough that he could get by. I still missed not having TV or the Internet, but at least we didn't have filth lining the gutters, so all in all, it was better than living I, say, the Bronx.

Obviously Kaiten and I couldn't be the only members of our band. We received offers from plenty of people who wanted to join us, but many of them were fanboys with no combat experience. Kaiten would regularly reject any applications, saying anyone we didn't personally recruit had to beat one of us in combat. It was just a way for Kaiten to vent his frustrations, but it kept all but the most hardheaded fighters from bothering us. We did manage to find a few good members to join up though.

The first was Seki, still living in Burmecia. Though she was a single mother of six now, she admitted she missed the old adventuring days as a Dragon Knight. Money was hard for her, working on a farm from sunup to sunset, but when she heard how much more money she could make, only the wellbeing of her kids kept her back. When she learned that the building we rented was large enough to house the kids and that we were three blocks from the air cab, which would drop them off at school, she caved in immediately.

The next member was the first friend I made outside of the World Heroes, Dante Ingram. The young engineer was already busy creating an empire with revolutionary plans and schematics. He was still working with Wayne, who also received an offer. Dante was hesitant to join up, stating that he wasn't a fighter, he was a builder. His business was going well and he was always coming up with some new blueprint. However, I saw his ideas and told him I could give him massive improvements. His ideas were good, but limited to revolver-style weapons. I told him about rifling the barrels for greater distance, about shotguns, magazines and clips. Guns were commonplace on Earth and, although he didn't believe I was really from another planet at first, my basic knowledge of firearms served as enough proof for him. He agreed to the trade and became our part-timer. He never worked alone, preferring to come with either Kaiten or myself to back him up, but he did solid work.

Wayne declined our offer to join sadly. He wasn't a fighter at all. That night Alexandria attacked, he had been forced to react, which he wasn't crazy about doing again. Still, he said he liked us, so he would give us something else. If we went to him exclusively for our blacksmithing and weapon synthesis, then he would give us a special discount. 40% off all prices! It was such a surprise that we inducted him anyway, joking that he was our second part-timer who just never showed up to work.

Our big reveal was at the first Festival of the Hunt after our band was formed. As soon as the festival started, we found each other and teamed up. It wasn't about personal glory, so much as showing off what we could do. It was just like last year's festival where Dante and I teamed up, but this year, we were far more brutal. They even had three Zaghnols this year. Dante took a shot at each in the head while Seki, Kaiten and I finished our own off. They had to close the entire Festival early just because they ran out of monsters to fight! By the end, we had all secured the top four slots, earning us fame, money, and for me, a small mountain of pancakes, topped with little ice cream Yans.

Regent Cid was so impressed with our performance that he decided to break tradition and let Kaiten give a speech, detailing his success. Kaiten had come in first, setting the new record at 523 points! I had beaten my old record of 240 points, coming in with 430 this year. Seki got 380 and Dante finished with 320. Considering how uncommon earning more than 200 points was, our victory was seen as a harbinger for how hardcore our team was. Kaiten really nailed it when he gave his speech, securing our place as the most badass mercenaries around.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!" he called out to the adoring crowd. "WE ARE THE TEMPEST BROTHERHOOD, AND WE ARE THE STRONGEST FIGHTERS YOU WILL EVER SEE! IF YOU EVER NEED A SWORD, A SPEAR OR A GUN AT YOUR SIDE, THEN NO MATTER THE JOB, WE WILL FINISH IT FOR YOU!"

Kaiten had even gotten Wayne to fly the Invincible over the city after his speech. In one swoop, our airship had gone from the most feared in the world, to the most recognized and adored. For weeks after that, people cheered when we flew overhead and when we walked in the streets. It was exactly what I had wanted all those years ago when I was first pulled in to Gaia. I was a hero, saving people and surrounded by admiring fans. Kaiten and I could have used more work to help with our funding, but we got by. Most of the money came from the dividend I earned by giving Dante Earth designs. Plus, we had enough downtime to go visit our friends whenever we wanted. The only hindrance was that Kaiten never let me drive the Invincible. He claimed I would never give it back. The bastard knew me too well. All in all though, I was happy. I had my friends, my magic, my short swords, and plenty of bad guys to fight.

Life was good.

XXXXXXXX

The next morning saw a beautiful open sky, barely a cloud to be seen. The warm sun graced the city streets of Alexandria. The market was open today. Street vendors lined the paths, selling everything from fresh vegetables from kitchen knives. We had parked the Invincible outside of the city for jurisdictional reasons, having a prisoner on board and all. It worked in our favor though, since I got to see all the set up in the mid-morning shopping rush. Kaiten stopped in the weapon vendors to admire their work, so it was just me by myself as I walked to the castle to seek an audience with the queen and king.

The throne room was new, having been built during Alexandria Castle's restoration. The main hall led to a large archway with massive wooden doors where Brahne's large portrait once stood, leading into a stretch of room. The room wasn't what I would call cavernous, with a smaller ceiling than the main hall, but it was decorated beautifully. Pillars lined the purple rug for guests to enter in. Between them, banners hung down from the walls, displaying wondrous art, or detailing scenes of battle, just like the Bayeux Tapestry. Artisans had crafted two long cloths detailing the start of the Mist War, Kuja's declarations of world domination, and saving Gaia from the turmoil in Memoria, focusing largely on the current Queen and King's involvement. Two large cushioned seats made up the thrones, side by side at the far end of the room with a colorful glass mosaic behind them to let in light.

Steiner and Beatrix stood guard by Zidane and Dagger's sides. Beatrix looked the same as ever, but Steiner was in his new armor. He was much easier to notice now, though that also meant he was much harder to ignore. Doctor Tot was also present, having been offered a job as royal herald. He was as short as ever, with a hat, glasses and beard so thick that I could barely see his face. I had arrived at the end of the daily court hearing, where citizens could come to the Queen and King and make petitions and requests. I was the last in a short line, just after the guy asking for more hay for his cows. Dagger was in the zone, looking like a proper queen, with a straight back, a strong voice, and a warm, but firm stare. Zidane's clothes were wrinkled and his eyes were at half-lid, as if it took every fiber in his being to keep from slouching. He perked up when he saw me enter the hall, but Dagger kept a wary eye on me, until I approached as the last guest in the hall.

"What did I tell you before?!"

She was not happy to see me.

"You dragged a bloody and unconscious criminal through the city streets again?!" she cried. "You startled everyone walking the streets, and made the city guard look incompetent!"

"Hardly what I was going for. We just ran into the guy. He was attacking someone, so I kicked his ass! Besides, I was a lot easier on this guy, and Kaiten and I got to him before he could really do anything. Isn't that good enough?"

Dagger sighed and leaned on her arm. I had already gotten used to these scoldings. When I first attacked someone like this in her city, she really unloaded against me. She kept saying that my level of aggression was okay against monsters, but not people. We weren't in a war anymore, so I couldn't just let loose like when the Alexandrian army was attacking us. Apparently, mutilating people before a trial was frowned upon. However, it was still a public good, and for every ugly catch I made, I had three "clean" ones, with minimal injury. Crime was down all over the kingdom and released offenders were less likely to repeat their crimes, though some didn't really have a choice. I turned the first rapist I caught into a eunuch. I may have been a little angry to find him camped outside a school.

The other reason I got away with it was Zidane. He always had my back on these cases as he sat next to Dagger on a matching throne. He seemed radically out of place in the colorful, laced clothes. Even so, he did have that air of leadership that he pulled out when he needed to. He was getting used to living the high life and being waited on, though he was visibly annoyed by it all. It took him three months before he would make any commands beyond his lunch order.

"Garnet," Zidane said, having been prodded to use Dagger's actual name when giving a royal presence. We all still called her Dagger behind closed doors though. "He did have to stop the attack, and really, he did a good job holding himself back this time." He turned to me. "All you broke was his nose, right?"

"I think so, yeah." Honestly in the heat of the moment, I may have broken his cheekbones and knocked out a few teeth, but I was in enough trouble as it was. I didn't need more problems.

Dagger picked her head up and stared down at me from her throne. "Fine. Just please stop being so violent. I don't want you to make a mistake and attack someone innocent. I'll have to judge you if that happens, and I really don't want to be put in that position."

"Yes, your highness."

"That's the last of it, your highness," Doctor Tot said. "Your council is meeting soon, however. You'll need to prepare."

"Of course," Dagger said, rising. "Trevor, despite this, I hope you can stay for dinner tonight."

"Maybe an early one. Kaiten's twisting my arm. He wants to get back home and drop off our prisoner before nightfall."

"Very well. Doctor Tot, can you pass the word along to Quina? Tell him to prepare something light for early evening."

He bowed. "At once, your highness."

Dagger rose, giving me a bow of the head. "If you'll excuse us Trevor, we have a council to attend. Come along Zidane, we don't want to be late."

"Uh, right," he said hesitantly, scratching his back as he rose. "Actually, I think I might skip this one. I'm not feeling too great."

Dagger looked more disappointed than surprised. She frowned as she said, "Zidane, you always do this! You said you'd come to this meeting! Just once I'd like to count on you for something!"

"I know, I know, and I'm sorry," Zidane said with his head down. "I just get nervous for these kinds of things, you know? I feel like my stomach is tied up in knots. You remember what happened during the last meeting? With the wine?"

Dagger glanced back at me and sighed. "I'm sorry Trevor, will you excuse us? I need to discuss something with my husband."

"Of course" I said. "I'll see you guys later."

I walked out of the room, listening to the two of them argue. Steiner and Beatrix stood in place, like silent statues. Once glance at them told me this was not the first fight Zidane and Dagger had gotten into. It was such a shame too, because they looked like a pretty cute couple.

The day of their wedding was one the entire continent celebrated. All of Alexandria was in attendance, and half of Lindblum and Burmecia came out to see. Even a few Cleyrans showed up. The wedding was so grand that it had to be held in the valley. Kaiten and I had been contracted to clear the area of monsters. It had been our largest contract to date, so Seki and Dante joined as well. We spent over a week tracking, herding and hunting everything we could to ensure no unwanted interruptions could possibly occur. By the end of it, we had a massive field ready for workers to come in and build fencing and a wide platform to elevate the happy couple.

Everyone had a good time. Blank was the best man and Eiko got to be the maid of honor. Quina was in charge of catering and had more than outdone himself. The spread took him two months to prepare, as well as fifty assistants. The cake was a massive seven layers tall with a ten-foot wide base. It had to be brought in by airship, layer by layer! Flowers littered the area and you couldn't go more than ten feet without running into another display. There wasn't a single quiet voice when they said their "I do's" to each other and kissed.

Considering how happy they made each other then, it was such a shame to see them fighting like this now. Zidane had to give up everything he knew to be with Dagger, but it was wearing him thin. Maybe a vacation would have done them some good. It was clear Zidane wanted out of the stuffy atmosphere, but there was no way Dagger could give up being queen.

I waited in the main hall for a few minutes. I admired the art and the job the architects did in redesigning the building. It looked good as new, before Bahamut reduced most of it to rubble. Suddenly, the door popped open and the throne room opened again.

"Hey, sorry about that," Zidane said, stepping out. "That went over a little messier than I would have liked."

"No problem," I said. "Is everything alright between you two?"

"We'll be fine. This happens every now and then. Gifts help though. Hey, can you go out and buy me some roses before dinner? Nice big ones to make her feel better?"

"Yeah, sure. You are gonna pay me back for them, right?"

"What? Of course I am! Why wouldn't I?"

"Once a thief, always a thief."

Zidane puffed his chest out. "Hey, I'm a king now, remember? I have everything a thief could want. Why would I steal anything?"

"Then why did you send me that letter and ask me to meet you here today?"

Zidane shifted uncomfortably and crossed his arms. "Yeah, about that. How about we walk and talk? It's been a while since you've seen the castle."

Zidane took the lead. We walked up another new section of the castle. It was just a long hallway leading to various guestrooms with tall windows overlooking the moat outside. The windows were adorned with white silk curtains and the hall was carpeted in red. A potted plant was set a few feet from each door. I even found my old room from when I was Dagger's bodyguard. Tempted as I was to check it out for old times' sake, it belonged to someone else now.

"So, I take it you're getting tired of the king's life?" I asked.

"It's… complicated," Zidane said. When I just "Mm-hmm'd" him, he expanded. "This is all completely different. I mean, when we were kids, my brothers in Tantalus and I would joke about getting so rich that we would be able to live in our own castles. Now that I've gotten it, I gotta tell you, it isn't what I thought it would be like."

"Well, what's different about it? What else were you expecting?"

"Adventure," he said quickly. "That was always the plan. Even after I had my own castle, I still wanted to see the world and explore. Maybe rob other kings. But this…"

"At least you have Dagger to help you."

"Don't get me wrong, I love Dagger. Completely and always. But we're both stuck here, in this city. I want to go out, get into trouble like I did before. Now, I have to stay here and take care of the city and the people. There's so much more work than you'd think!"

"Why don't you both take a vacation? Get away for a while? You upgraded the Red Rose to run on steam, didn't you? Go to the tropics or something."

"We did that. Three times actually. It's not the same thing though. I'm still a king, so I can't goof off like before, and Dagger always insists on eating the most expensive food we can find. You know I can't stand that stuff."

"Like goose liver and caviar?"

"I have no idea what those are, but I think you get the idea."

"Fancy food from Earth, so yeah. Well, I'm sorry to hear that, but what can I do? If you ask me to pull a _Prince and the Pauper_ routine, forget it. That story's been done to death."

"Another Earth story?"

"Mark Twain. I'll tell you someday."

"No, I actually wanted to ask you a small favor." He stopped walking and we both stood next to a window. "I want you to take me with you, just for a little while. I need to get out of here, be in my old clothes and see the world. Maybe fight some monsters. Whaddaya say?"

Zidane never had time to dodge as my hand slapped him hard upside the head.

"What was that for?!" he cried out. "You can't hit me like that! I'm King now!"

"You were being an idiot!"

"That's a capital offence!"

"_You were_ _being an idiot!_ Look, Zidane, you have a damn good thing going right now! Don't throw that away over rich food and itchy clothes! You have a wife that, and let me be perfectly honest here, I would kill to get. You live in a big-ass castle, you have more money than you could ever spend in your life! And you know what? Dagger loves you far more than you know! Every day you were gone, she would talk about you, wondering where you were, or how you were doing. More than once she sent me on missions to the Iifa Tree to see if I could find you or any trace of you. This girl would do anything for you, and you're skipping out on important meetings! Meetings she might be stressed to go to. Meetings that she might need your support in. Maybe she's giving up a lot of her personal life to see you happy and help you transition into a new life. Maybe you need to man up and go help your wife!"

Zidane just stared in silence for a moment. He looked around, lost in his thoughts, thinking about everything I had just said.

"Hey, sorry," I said. "I didn't mean to rant like that. I lost a girl like Dagger once and hated myself for it for a long time. I don't want to see you fuck something like that up."

"No, it's okay," he said. "You're right. I guess I can try to see things from her perspective a little more now. I just missed hanging out with my friends like before. And in my old, non-itchy clothes."

"I can help with the latter."

"Really? How?"

I gave him a big smile. "By inventing the cotton gin!"

"Another Earth invention? What, were you some kind of prodigy on your planet?"

"Just wait until I bring you the air conditioner. Then you'll really love me!"

"Ha, alright. Well, I should be getting to the meeting then. Sorry I can't show you out."

"Don't worry about it. I know this castle pretty well."

"Alright, see you… Oh wait!" Zidane stopped. "I almost forgot to ask, you're going to fight in the Tournament of Kings, right? Dagger and I want it to rival the Festival of the Hunt someday, and top-level fighters like yourself will make it an instant hit!"

"You know I'm in!" I laughed. "I'll try to get the rest of the Brotherhood in. It'll make for a better standoff." That, and we had a better chance of getting the prize money.

With one last wave, Zidane ran back down the hall we came from. It looked like my little speech did him some good. I stuffed my hands in my pockets and strolled down at my own pace. Now that Zidane had mentioned it, I was thinking about the Tournament again. Part of the restoration of Alexandria included knocking down some old buildings in a section abandoned after Bahamut's attack and building an arena in its place. The building was huge, almost rivaling the Roman Coliseum. I could still see it standing high from the hallway in the castle. Looking at it now, I got flashbacks to our fight against Necron, thinking about how we barely pulled out of there. It would be good to fight in an arena without an omnipotent god-like figure trying to destroy all of creation.

The Tournament itself was set six months away from the Festival of the Hunt. That meant I could compete in both and boast the Tempest Brotherhood's name even more. This was going to be the first year of the tournament, and the entire kingdom was abuzz talking about it. Fighters from all around, even outside the continent, were coming to compete. A lot of them were already bragging their upcoming victory in the streets. Most of them looked like pushovers. Huge muscles and massive swords meant nothing against a pair of Demon Sabers. The only question was how Dante could safely compete with his revolver without killing anyone. White Mages were being called from all over to help heal the injured. Perhaps we would have to rely on them.

I had reached the main lobby when a familiar airship landed in the airdocks next to the castle. It was a small ship, less than half the size of the Red Rose, but almost as comfortable. Varnished in cerulean, the Blue Orchid was used for Alexandria's diplomatic and emissary missions. That meant one person in particular was on board.

Vivi came walking in from the airdock hall. He still carried the ornate Mace of Zeus I found for him in Memoria. He had new solid green pants, and a silken blue robe with a wide collar. Now he looked like a real wizard, even though that wizard was trapped in a kid's body.

Vivi looked up and saw me coming towards him. "Trevor!" he called out. He hoisted his staff up and carried it at his side, running as hard as his little legs would carry him. Just as he neared me, he tripped, sliding the last few feet. He picked himself up, adjusted his hat and dusted off his pants, trying to recover what dignity he could. Some things never change.

"I haven't seen you in weeks!" he said. "How've you been? Have you fought any more monsters?"

"Of a sort," I said. "Caught another one last night. What about you? How's ambassador life treating you?"

He shrugged. "It's alright. I miss being with everyone else though. Zidane and Dagger are busy a lot, and Quina is… Quina."

"I know what you mean," I said with a knowing nod. "Are you looking forward to the Tournament of Kings?"

"Oh yeah!" He was practically bouncing on his toes. "I'll get to watch from the royal seating with Zidane and Dagger! I'll have my own seat and everything!"

"You're just gonna watch? You're not going to compete?"

"No, I think I'm done fighting. I never liked it. I only did it because we really needed to. Now that I have this new job, I never have to fight. Good luck to you though! I'll make sure to cheer you on!"

I laughed. "I might need it. How's work going for you though? And how's the Black Mage Village?"

"It's alright. I like it… but…" Vivi hesitated. His eyes shifted down and he leaned on his staff for support. "It's Mr. 288. He's sick. They… they don't think he's going to last much longer. They say he's gonna stop soon."

"Mr. 288?" He was the one who first met us when we first found the village. He was the only one who wasn't immediately terrified of seeing me. He was also one of the only Black Mages to stay behind when Kuja tricked the rest of the village. He was the closest thing to a village elder, as well as Vivi's first Black Mage friend. I knelt down to comfort the little guy. "Vivi, I'm so sorry."

"It's alright," he said solemnly. "Everyone stops… eventually. I'm just… sad."

"No one would blame you if you wanted to be with the Black Mages during all this," I said. "I bet Mr. 288 would really appreciate it. After all, you were the one who helped open trade negotiations with the Black Mages."

Vivi looked at me with big puppy eyes. "You really think he'd like that?"

"I'm sure he would! Why don't you head back to the village when you can? I don't think Dagger would mind if you took a vacation up there for a week or two to comfort him."

Vivi smiled. "Alright, I'll do that! Thanks Trevor!"

"Anytime Vivi. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go into town for a little bit and buy some flowers."

"Are you're coming back? I thought maybe you could stick around for dinner."

"Well, the flowers are for Zidane to give to Dagger, so yeah, I'll be back. And Dagger already invited me to dinner so you're stuck with me either way."

Vivi beamed at that and laughed. "Alright! I'm gonna finish up my report really fast! I'll see you then!"

"See ya Vivi!"

XXXXXXXX

Dinner was excellent, as always. How Quina knew half the recipes he did was beyond me. He served us a light salad of tomatoes and lettuce in a raspberry dressing. The main course was fresh fish caught just that morning, coated in eggs and dried breading. All of it came with a glass of red wine, as was typical. I had a glass, but mostly stuck to water.

Zidane and Dagger had obviously made up since their spat. The flowers I had gotten earlier helped. Alexandria was still a matriarchy, so Dagger sat at the head of the table, with Zidane just beside her. There was much giggling between the two of them while Dagger did little to stop Zidane from whispering sweet nothings to her. Vivi had joined us, but was in a special seat since he was too short to reach the table. He looked like a toddler in a high chair, and I had to stifle a laugh knowing this kid was an ambassador to one of the strongest nations on the planet. Even Kaiten was there after I ran into him at the market, but it felt like he was there only out of obligation. He sat next to me and was quiet through most of the meal. Even after all this time, he still refused to open up to the other heroes. I was just glad he wasn't the same with the others in the Brotherhood.

We said our goodbyes after dinner as the sun was just beginning to set. Our prisoner was still in his holding cell, by now asking for food. We had already tossed something his way earlier in the morning, so he could wait until we got to the prison to eat. Kaiten took the helm and I took a seat in the back of the bridge. We headed for home and for a well-earned rest and reward.

"Dagger and Zidane are looking well," I said. "Makes me wish I had a girl."

Kaiten didn't take his eyes off the screen as he talked. "I thought you were dating that one already. Tema."

"Nah, didn't really work out," I admitted. "She was sweet, but unbearably clingy. I had no such thing as alone time, you know?"

"I see. Sorry to hear that."

"Yeah, I'm gonna miss her though. She was fun."

"And her ample chest, if I recall."

"_You_ are an asshole." It was a dick move, but it still made me smirk. "Still, what about you? I never hear about you going on dates."

"Not my thing. I was raised for combat. Romance doesn't interest me. Besides, I don't get along with women terribly well, you know that."

"You sure? What about that girl we saved in Alexandria? She warmed up to you pretty well."

"You mean Chloe?"

"AHA! I knew you liked her!"

This time, Kaiten turned his head to look at me. "What are you talking about?"

"You never use a person's name until you respect them, remember?" He still didn't even use everyone's names from the World Heroes. He was very picky like that. He just glared at me from the corner of his eye and went back to looking at the screen.

"Hey, I'm just kidding," I laughed. "Anyway, maybe I should spend some time just hanging out before the tournament and try to pick up chicks that way. It'd be nice to have someone special cheering me on."

Kaiten was a little more forthcoming about his confidence. "After what we did in the last Festival, we'll have half the stadium cheering us on."

"You really think so?" Thoughts of girls clamoring for my attention went through my head.

"Well, until you and I fight. Then they'll be cheering only for me."

"Ahaha," I mocked. "Asshat."

XXXXXXXX

Things were quieting down when we arrived in Lindblum. A quick stop at the prison left us one scumbag lighter and a little richer. We took the air cabs back to our hideout, planted in the Business District. A blue sign hung above the door.

TEMPEST BROTHERHOOD

Mercenaries for Hire

Inquire within

Inside, the lobby opened to a wide, two-story room with hardwood floor and white walls with brown molding. A fireplace burned a gentle fire which lit the entire room in dancing luminescence. A table, several chairs, and a couch stood to the side of the hearth, with the biggest chair on the far side of the table, making it look like something out of The Godfather. Kaiten said he had set it that way intentionally to help our business image. Customers could come in, sit down and explain what kind of job they needed. It wasn't a bad system, though more than half our contracts came from skimming the wanted posters outside prisons and the jobs boards in taverns.

The halls split down in either direction. To the left was our armory, mostly empty but ready for new recruits, once Kaiten was open enough to hiring more members. It only held our armor between missions. Kaiten, Seki and I all kept out weapons in our bedrooms, should we ever need them against someone committing suicide via B and E. It also held a suit of armor too big for any of us, and three iron broadswords. The room needed work. The hallway also led to the upper stairwell, which brought us up to the upper balcony, overlooking the office. The balcony had a connecting bridge to the adjacent balcony on the far side. That room, and the hallway to the right, led to our bedrooms, as well as the living room, kitchen, and play area for the kids. In the time that we've lived here, we hired Dante and Wayne to help build a jungle gym of sorts for them. Now their playroom was nearly the size of our office, honeycombed with platforms and tunnels and even a "secret" meeting area deep inside the cluster. It was like a wooden playpen from McDonalds, but about a thousand times cooler!

Seki was in the living room when Kaiten and I stepped in. She was reading from our small, but growing library. She set the book down as I hung my trenchcoat on the coat rack by the front door and stepped in. Kaiten kept his leather jacket on.

"Hey you two," she greeted from her comfy chair. "Took you guys a while to catch that guy. I thought he was a petty thug."

"He was," Kaiten said. "This one wanted to stay back and talk with the King and Queen."

"We never get to see them anymore!" I pointed out while leaning my head on his shoulder. "Besides, I miss when we would just go out and relax with other couples. Don't yooou?"

The look I earned from Kaiten was priceless. His face contorted in horror and he shuffled his way back into the kitchen. Seki and I burst out laughing at his retreat.

"He is so easy to mess with!" I chuckled. Our laughter filled the room until Seki shushed me.

"Sorry," she said. "I already put the kids to bed and I don't need any of them waking up now."

"Ah, right. Hey, have you seen Dante today? I need to talk to him."

"He's already gone home for the day." Unlike Seki, Dante didn't move in with us, preferring to keep his home in the Industrial District. He spent most of the day in the Business District, either with Wayne or us, so he was still easy to find.

"Damn. Well, I'll tell him tomorrow. In the meantime, I wanted to talk to you." I took a step and peeked around the corner to the kitchen to see Kaiten making a sandwich. "You too Kaiten."

"Be there in a sec," he said.

Kaiten took the spare chair as Seki curled his legs up on her seat, securing it. I took the couch and propped my feet up on the coffee table. "So, the Tournament of Kings is coming up in two weeks. We kicked a lot of ass in the Festival of the Hunt, so why don't we try for this too?"

Seki's face lit right up, but Kaiten was concentrating more on his ham and lettuce. "I'm up for it," she said. "It's been a while since I've had a real chance to challenge myself. No offence, but a lot of our contracts are real easy."

"Fair point," I agreed. "Kaiten, what about you?"

"I'll pass," he said. "Fighting monsters is one thing, but I can't really let loose against another person unless I intend to kill them. Holding myself back isn't a lot of fun."

"Are you sure? You seemed eager enough talking about it on the ride back home."

"And sabotage your chances of winning the whole thing?"

"Are you so sure you'd beat me? We're pretty evenly matched."

"How did our last sparring match go?"

I tried to respond, but I had nothing. I just sank into my couch and sulked.

"That's what I thought," Kaiten quipped. "Anyway, both you and Seki should be more than a match for whoever you fight. At least, until you fight each other."

"That'll be good," Seki said. "I didn't get a chance to really cut loose when we first met in Treno. Though, if I remember, I won that too."

"Only because you were wearing distracting negligee. Put on some armor and you'll lose your only advantage."

Seki tossed the heavy book she had been reading. I barely had time to react when it hit me in the arm as I was covering my head. "Tits are not a combat advantage! Try fighting with them sometime!"

Kaiten interrupted before our "fight" got out of hand. "Girls! You're both pretty. If you want to, spar in the basement. Otherwise just leave it until the tournament. I'm going to bed. I'll see you in the morning. Trevor, you'll be on contract hunting duty."

"Ugh, fine." I hated contract hunting. I had to walk all over town for a lead we could use to get a job. It usually meant walking into less-than-reputable places. Lindblum may have been nice as a whole, but some of the bars were filthy and smelled like piss. The barkeeps could be assholes too since I didn't go to the bars to drink.

"So, two weeks?" Seki asked as Kaiten walked upstairs to his bedroom. "I guess I'll have to get a little more training in. Can't let you off easy. Can you sign me up for the tournament though? I don't know when I'll be able to get to Alexandria next time to do it myself."

"I'll sign us both up next chance I get. Maybe Kaiten and I can swing by Alexandria for lunch or something. I'll do it then." I loved having a personal airship, even if Kaiten never let me drive it.

"Okay then. I'll see you in the morning. Good night."

"Night."

I stretched out on the couch, short swords still at my sides. I unsheathed Crimson as I often did and just stared at the blade. I was loving life. This was nothing like what I had planned on Earth. I had just planned on becoming a therapist and living in the suburbs, but this was vastly better. Now I could stay up late, make my own schedule, for the most part, and still fight bad guys. Plus, I still got to fight in tournaments and festivals. Vivi already said he was out, but there were plenty of others from the World Heroes who could do battle. I sank into the couch and sighed in contentment.

I couldn't wait for the tournament to see my old friends.


	2. A Fine Day for a Parade!

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Final Fantasy characters in this story.

Author's notes: Well, I've been insanely busy! I've only traded a month's worth of sleep for my latest project: INTERNET REVIEWING! XD I've decided to take my knowledge of books and movies, and combine them with my love at yelling at people! :D The combination, is pretty much what it sounds like. Me screaming at a camera for 20 minutes. :P

The show is called The Book Was Better. The premise is that movies keep being made based on books that do no favors (or even betray) the source material! It is my job to expose these frauds and educate the ones making the movies, hoping to improve the movies of the future!

…Okay, that's a load of crap. I just enjoy yelling at people I don't like. XD

With my current schedule, I should be able to get an episode out every 3-4 weeks! Plus, this will be an easier way to help fund my writing (ad revenue and all)! You get something immediately in return, for free, in order to get excellent stories down the road for only a few bucks! Plus, you get to see what I look like (_**Hello ladies**_ ;) ). Oh, but I took precautions, so those of you trying to find where I live in order to pay me back for those cliffhangers? Sorry, not gonna help you. XD

Episode 1 is me reviewing The Golden Compass, and episode 2 (Eragon) is already in editing! Give me another week or so and I should have something ready for you!

Just search youtube for The Book Was Better: Golden Compass, and it's the first result. I'll also provide a link to my channel in my fanfic profile!

And if you're wondering, yes, in fact I have forgotten what a bed feels like! Now why don't you guys enjoy a fresh new chapter while I go inject Red Bull directly into my neck? :D

Chapter 2- A Fine Day for a Parade!

XXXXXXXX

Every now and then, a job found us. It was usually small. Help someone collect a debt. Find a criminal. Seki even rescued a cat from a tree once. Then, every few months, we would get someone dressed in regal colors carrying a scroll with a royal seal on it.

This was one of those jobs.

"Alright, shape up!" Kaiten barked. He took these royal assignments very seriously. "We're set to stay near Regent Cid during the procession. Trevor, keep an eye on the streets, look for the usual weird stuff."

"Right," I said.

"Dante, Seki, you both keep your eyes up. Watch windows and rooftops. Mutter something to the rest of us if you see someone, but don't act until you see something hostile. We don't need to unnecessarily cause a panic. This is a celebration after all."

Today's mission was a royal escort. I was pleased for the exposure, though it did mean I would have to be on my best behavior, as Kaiten was wont to point out. Lindblum and Burmecia had signed a trade agreement, raw materials for vegetation. A hurricane had blown through Burmecia recently. Thanks to an increase in rain, Burmecia's plains had flooded, losing them dozens of acres of food. Plus, industry was up in Lindblum, so between new airships and new weapons, the need for iron and steel was on the rise. Both countries benefitted while increasing trade rates.

"I just hope we don't get delayed in the usual politics," Seki said, leaning on her polearm. She had adorned her old Dragon Knight armor. It matched Freya's in almost every way, except it was yellow where Freya's was red. It went well with her blonde hair. "I need to get home before the kids. I don't like them being home without someone to watch them."

"Told you we should've gotten a sitter," Dante said. He had changed a lot since we first fought alongside each other in the Festival of the Hunt. Back then he was an engineer with a new toy. Now, he was a force to be reckoned with all on his own.

Dante still had his short curled brown hair and fun-loving personality, always in pursuit of knowledge, but that was all that was the same. Thanks to helping Wayne in the forge, he had bigger arms than I did! Walking at my side, the spare rifle he kept on his back gave a pat, pat, pat as it bounced off his back. Magazines and ammo clips were still in the distant future, and since I didn't know enough about mechanics to help design them, all of Dante's guns were revolver-based. It was still cool though, and looked like something out of a steampunk story. He carried another rifle in his arms, and two enlarged revolvers on his hip. He still carried all his ammo in a sack at his side. Reloading took him forever, hence the multiple guns. Still, Dante was the best shot outside of the military.

Guns took a while to make, and since Dante owned the patent and he only produced guns through Wayne, the both of them were making a killing, selling almost exclusively to the Lindblum and Alexandria Militaries. Burmecia was intent on holding on to their old ways, and Cleyra wasn't even intent on risking open combat, so neither of them took any guns, but that didn't matter. Wayne's business was expanding and both he and Dante were now wealthy men.

"Not sure why you needed me," Dante complained. "You have an entire squad of Dragon Knights, and I have other work to do."

"I like the company," I admitted. "Besides, we never hang that much anymore. I'm always traveling abroad and you're usually working with Wayne."

"Drinks after the mission then?"

I grinned. "I thought you'd never offer! Sounds great!"

"Wha—That was not an offer! Pay for your own damn drinks!"

"You're the best Dante!"

"STOP DOING THAT!"

We were all gathered in the Noble District. The procession would start in an archway at the end of the district and make its way to the Grand Castle. Citizens, mostly nobles of course, would be able to gather in the streets and watch from their homes.

"We'll just need to check in," Kaiten said, walking by the guards by the front door and into the inn. "Stand tall guys, we've got royalty inside."

The Grand Dragon's Tail was an ornately designed and impeccably clean inn. Whitewashed walls were divided only by solid brown molding. Every window was decorated with deep blue drapes and a flowerpot hanging outside the glass. Every couch cost more than what I made in a month, but they looked like it. This inn was made for the richest of blood, mostly used by visiting nobles from Treno. With twenty rooms and full room service, it was the envy of every other inn in town. It was little wonder why Regent Cid made this the starting point for the ceremony.

Regent Cid sat waiting in the month's-worth salary chairs, with 2 squads of guards, one of which was the new Gunslinger Corps, the sharpshooters each trained and armed in fighting with Dante's 8-round rifles. The Queen Hilda was back at the castle, but Princess Eiko was sitting beside her adoptive father. She sat up straight and looked very polite in her clean purple dress. She barely even flinched as we entered the room, as if lost in her thoughts. The King of Burmecia waited alongside him with a group of stewards. Surrounding them both was a squadron of Dragon Knights, donned in dark blue armor. Leading them was the only Dragon Knight in red armor, standing at the front of the line. She enjoyed a reputation as a hardass, but she got the job done better than anyone else.

"The Tempest Brotherhood," Freya said, stepping up to greet us. "Good to see you all again. I'm just sorry I couldn't see you at last year's Festival of the Hunt, but I was overseeing a new group of trainees."

"Freya!" Seki said. She stepped up and gave her old friend a hug. Freya paused at first, then awkwardly returned the gesture, ignoring the snickering of the other Dragon Knights. "I've missed you! How've you been?"

"Fairly well," she said. "There's far more politics in my job than I would like, but I get by. And how are you doing? How are the children?"

"Oh, the kids are great! They ask about you sometimes, wondering when you're going to come by and visit."

"Do they now?" Freya asked skeptically. "Do they ask it, or do you ask it?"

Seki rolled her eyes and smirked. "Hey, I can't get out as much as I would like. We only have the one airship and my boss doesn't let me drive it for personal use."

"Company policy," Kaiten defended.

"He doesn't let anyone drive it," I pointed out, glaring at Kaiten.

"He barely lets anyone even get inside it," Dante pointed out. "Remember when Regent Cid asked to get inside so he could reverse engineer it? I thought Kaiten's head was gonna pop off!"

Seki giggled as Kaiten turned his angered gaze to Dante and myself. "I'm glad I moved out here," she said. "These guys are almost as fun as our days in the academy!"

"If you wanted to relive our academy days, you could have come back to the Dragon Knights," Freya said. "You could've stayed in Burmecia."

"Perhaps," Seki said. "But I got tired of the procedure, and the bullshit. Besides, this way, I get to travel more, spend more time with my kids, and I kinda owed Trevor. Besides, he's kinda cute, isn't he? Such a big, strong hero-man! Haha, just look at him blush!"

I just cleared my throat and turned away, doing my best not to show my red face.

"Commander," Kaiten said to Freya as he stepped up. "I've briefed my team on the plan. I'm sure your dragon knights are covered, correct?"

"We were ready before we got here," Freya challenged. Behind her, the squad of Burmecian soldiers echoed her enthusiasm with a quick, "Haroo!" Ever since becoming commander, she had become much sterner, more demanding of those around her. Yet, I could tell it was for good effect. Being a hardass was sometimes part of being a good leader. I had picked that much up by simply following Kaiten's orders.

"Hey Freya," I said, stepping up to my old friend-turned-nemesis-turned-friend. "Been a while. You never come out to say hi. You look like you're doing well."

Freya just nodded at first. "I could say the same of you," she said. "You're becoming quite famous. I don't know if the Tempest Brotherhood is necessary here with all my Dragon Knights, but it is good to see you. I'm glad you've been doing well ever since Memoria."

"It looks like we all have," I said. "I just saw Zidane and Dagger the other day. I think everyone's planning to come together again in the Tournament of Kings. Hell, maybe we can finally find Amarant! I haven't seen him since we escaped the Hill of Despair."

"Neither have I," Freya admitted. "Are you going to be competing in the tournament?"

"Planning on it," I grinned mischievously. "You?"

Freya still had the polearm I had plucked for her from Memoria hanging on her back. It seemed to shine as she donned a prideful smirk. "Times are changing. Alexandria is advancing on its magic and Lindblum on its technology, but people often forget the raw, martial talent of Burmecia! I plan to compete just to prove that honed skill and natural talent can win any battle!"

"Not any battle," Kaiten corrected. "But at least if you're competing, I won't have to worry about Trevor slacking off and getting overconfident. Do me a favor and don't hold back on him."

"I plan to beat him and win the tournament. Maybe not easily, but it will give me a chance to prove the might of the Dragon Knights!"

"Sounds good!" Seki chirped in. "It'll be fun when we fight each other then!"

"Oh? You're fighting too Seki?"

Seki nodded. "I can't let Trevor be the only one from the Brotherhood to fight!"

"Not that I don't like waxing nostalgic," Kaiten said. "But we do have a job to do. That procession is meant to start soon."

"Yes, of course," Freya said, getting back on track. "We've received reports that the LF might try to attack us. The Dragon Knights will provide close support should it be needed for His Highness. Can your team handle scouting and range?"

Kaiten grunted at the perceived insult. "I have a gunman, a former Dragon Knight, and a guy who faced down the end of the world. Yeah, I think we can handle a few anarchists."

Lindblum First, or the LF, was a recently formed anti-government militia hidden within the borders of Lindblum Kingdom. In their mind, Lindblum's monarchy had worn out its welcome by supporting Burmecia in the Mist War. By diverting airships to aid the fallen kingdom, Lindblum had left itself open to attack by Alexandria, which led to its downfall, and the deaths of hundreds of its citizens. The LF saw the move to aid the Burmecians as foolhardy, while deeming Regent Cid as unfit to lead his people. Now, isolationism was all the LF cared to enforce, despite the peacetime and the formation of the Alliance. Then again, anarchists and logic were not good bedfellows.

The LF was responsible for several bombings around the kingdom, as well as South Gate. Their leaders all went by masks, so no one knew who they really were. I had never tangled with the group myself, though I wanted to after every attack they made. Kaiten stopped me on more than one occasion from taking the Invincible out to hunt them down, though we had provided relief missions for the wounded. Very little Intel was known about the shadow group, so security was up for this escort mission, just in case.

The Noble District was pretty secure, but the Lindblum City Guard had been patrolling for the last few days just in case. Several noble families from Burmecia had been invited to attend as well, already lining the streets with several local citizens. A small contingent of Burmecian soldiers had come to the inn as well and would complete the parade.

Freya stepped through the ring of guards around both monarchs, saluting briefly. "Your Highnesses?" Freya asked. "We're ready to begin at any time."

The King of Burmecia, dressed in a regal green vest and pants with a flowing purple cape and silver trim, checked a small timepiece from his pocket. "I suppose it is time to begin. We'll have to continue this discussion later, Regent."

"Of course," Regent Cid said, rising as well. His red attire was matched with a blue silk cape, flowing down to the back of his legs. "I do find Burmecia's climate fascinating. Eiko, are you ready to go?"

"Yes, father," she said, almost robotically. When I had first met Eiko, she was covering in a week's worth of dirt, running around like a complete tomboy. Even knowing how the game ended, I never thought I would see her acting polite and clean like this. Her purple dress looked like she had never worn it before, though I could still see a hint of dust on her fringe, as well as the fingertips of her matching purple gloves. Perhaps she couldn't help kicking up some dirt on her way over to the inn. Some habits died hard.

The King of Burmecia nodded to Freya and asked, "Commander Crescent, will you give the command please?"

"Of course, your Highness," she said with a bow. Her Dragon Knights heard the king and were already lined up, surrounding the chocobo-drawn carriage that would carry the Regent and the King. "All soldiers, report for duty! Fall in and file out!"

At once, the highly trained Burmecian military formed ranks and marched out of the inn. Only one rank was left when the King walked out, following behind him, with three of its members joining him and the Regent inside the carriage. Freya took point at the front of the Dragon Knights as they formed a shoehorn in front of and around the carriage. Most of the soldiers followed behind the carriage, but two squads marched up front, in front of even the Dragon Knights. They were the ones who joined us, forming in front of us while we took to the flanks. Kaiten and Seki took the left side while Dante and I took the right.

"FORWARD!" came the cry from Freya.

The Lindblum Royal Marching Band led the way, already playing on their drums to set the pace for the rest of us. Members of the Lindblum Royal Guard filed out front, as well as members of the Gunslinger Corps. We felt almost tacked on with all the armed forces already in place, but each of us could already outfight anyone in the Lindblum military. Lindblum had always relied on their technology in their armies, a point Freya reviled. Magic was still new and exciting to me though, so my magic short swords would serve for all my needs.

"Kind of nice," I said to Dante. I kept my eyes on the streets as we walked, watching everyone that we passed in the crowds. "I don't think we've had a big Royal mission like this since Zidane and Dagger's wedding last summer."

"I know what you mean," he said, keeping his eyes on the rooftops, occasionally looking through the telescope on his rifle. "If you let your ego go, it's almost like they're cheering for us. Though, knowing you, you're probably there already."

"Some of them _are_ cheering for us. Look!"

Several of the locals were screaming from behind the barricades along the streets, reaching their arms out at us, and only us. I waved back at a group of girls, feeling like a rockstar. Dante waved too, getting a similar reaction of louder screams that we could easily hear over the ear-popping music up ahead.

"Maybe being single and famous isn't so bad," I said, perhaps letting myself get a little too distracted by the cuties.

"Yeah, sorry to hear it didn't work out with Sara," Dante said. "We can go to a bar if you need to vent a little."

"Still offering to buy those drinks?"

"Never mind. You're fine."

I laughed, until a pebble flew out and hit me in the head. I turned and saw Kaiten glaring at me angrily. He couldn't possibly yell at me over the music without breaking formation, so he pointed at his eyes, then sharply at the crowds to his side. I got his meaning easily enough.

"Right, sorry boss," I muttered, and went back to examining the crowd. "Damn slave driver."

Dante had a chuckle at my expense. "Someone's in trouble."

"Nah. Kaiten's just being uptight again. You know how he gets on these big profile missions."

Everything was clear. The citizens were cheering like mad, but the castle was already in view. We were halfway done already. The Regent and King of Burmecia both waved from their carriage, much to the adoration of everyone who came to see them. This was a great day in international relations, and only served to strengthen the bonds of the Alliance.

That's why I'll never understand why someone would want to bomb it.

"POWER TO THE PEOPLE!"

"Trevor, up there!" Dante shouted. I looked up just in time to see a large tin box, almost like a cookie tin, falling through the air. Someone dressed in a black hood had tossed it from the rooftop. Smoke poured out of it, and I didn't have to guess at what it was.

I had just enough time to shout, "INCOMING!"

Dante fell to one knee as the bomb dropped. Aiming down his scope, he took two shots. The first only hit the corner of the tin, but the second hit center mass. The gunpowder in the bomb ignited at once, blowing up in midair, showering the streets with flakes of tin and shrapnel. Slivers of metal streaked for the civilians, already injuring some, but it was far better than what could have happened if the bomb had hit the ground.

The crowd and the marching band were already bolting in every direction. Some ran into buildings, others just ran for their lives down the streets. The soldiers along the streets did their best to keep everyone organized, but it was an impossible challenge. Several of them simply helped the civilians escape however they could, picking them back up and directing everyone to run down the streets, away from the parade. As long as we could stop any more bombs from going off, everything would turn out for the best.

I was busy scanning the crowd for anyone else who could attack when Dante yelled, "Look up! More of them!"

The rooftops all around us were lined with members of the LF. The black masks they wore were the only things distinguishing them as a group. Otherwise, they could just be any regular civilian dressed in regular clothes. If we let them get away, identifying them would be next to impossible.

Each black-hooded figure lit another tin box. With a heave, each box fell towards the carriage. Dante had only six shots left in his rifle, and even if he was lucky, there was no way to stop all twenty bombs. We had no way to stop them all, but Dante took aim anyway. I grabbed a revolver from his hip and took a few shots myself.

One by one, in rapid succession, each bomb exploded before it reached the carriage. I looked over and saw each member of the Gunslinger Corps, having seen Dante and shooting each bomb. The LF, seeing their plot foiled, fled the scene. We couldn't let them reconnect with the other retreating citizens or we would never find them!

"Dragon Knights!" Freya shouted. "Protect your king! Squad one, stay with the carriage! Squad two, to the rooftops!"

The Dragon Knights, like the Special Force team they were, set into position at once. While half their numbers fell back to surround the monarchs' carriage, the other half leapt to the tops of the surrounding buildings. The Lindblum soldiers, not to be outdone, surrounded the carriage. Three small squads had fallen back and were clearing out the nearby buildings one by one, in case the LF had any reserve members waiting in ambush.

The members of the Tempest Brotherhood fell back, coming together as one in the street. We were all busy surveying the streets while Kaiten was trading tactics with the captain from the Lindblum Army.

"Why the hell does this always happen when I join you guys?!" Dante shouted over the chaos. "First that whole thing with the trick sparrow swarm, now this!"

"Maybe you're just bad luck!" Seki suggested.

Despite my friends' banter, I was still on edge. The site wasn't secure, and we were going to have to move the Regent and the King. I knew the Dragon Knight would round up most of the LF soon enough, but they were far too daring, and the plan was over too quickly. It was reminiscent of the Black Hand when they started World War I. There were several assassins involved, not just the one, so, could the first wave of bombs really have been all of it?

That was when I noticed the three dark figures in the nearby alleyway.

"DANTE, RIGHT!"

In the blink of an eye, two more tins were lobbed into the air. Dante dropped his rifle and before it even hit the ground, both revolvers were in his hands, raising at the boxes. His shots went wild as panic set in. Twice he hit the corners, twisting it in the air, but the tin was still on course for its target. Us.

"GET DOWN!" Seki jumped high into the air as I tackled Dante and we both flew under the explosive as it bounced once in the street, only a few feet from the carriage. The second tin hit a soldier in the chest and fell to his feet in the middle of his squad. I covered Dante as best I could. I had to hope the carriage would be alright. I didn't dare look over at the squadron of Lindblum soldiers.

Explosions pounded at the ground and my ears. I counted far more than the two I had seen. My body shook as I desperately prayed the bombardment to end. It lasted only a few seconds, but the sensation left me weak and shaken. Something wet splashed against my face. I kept my eyes shut as gravel and dirt continued to rain down on us. Beneath me, Dante was screaming, just as afraid as I was.

I wasn't exactly sure when the blasts ended. I could barely hear anything. Someone stood over me and shook my shoulder. I chanced a glance up. It was Seki. She vibrated at first, but then I realized that was just my vision. She helped me up and gave me a slap on the back, shocking my senses back into place.

Seki shouted something as she helped Dante up, but I couldn't hear it. There was only one long beep. I was deafened, but with any luck, it was only temporary. In the meantime, the real trouble was where the bombs had landed. I looked first at the carriage. Several bombs had hit it at close range. The wheels were all destroyed and the frame was badly burned, but for the most part, it seemed in tact. Now, moving the monarchs was more important than ever.

I also looked around to where the other bombs went off. The carriage was bad, but the soldiers around me were in much worse shape. Body parts lay blasted all around. The ground was soaked in blood. I saw the squadron that had been hit adjacent to myself. Two soldiers apparently used their bodies to smother the blast and saved the rest of their squad. Those two deserved a statue in their honor.

Smoke and the concussive blasts knocked me to my knees and I started a coughing fit. My body was shutting down on me. I could see the anarchists running away down the alleyways, but I was in no shape to chase them down.

Just as I was starting to give up, a warm light surrounded all three of us. My body stopped shaking and I was able to steady my breathing. Both Dante and Seki seemed fine. I rose up and saw Eiko, playing her flute from beside the carriage. White magic spells went off everywhere, healing the soldiers who hadn't already died. Limbs couldn't be regrown, but the bleeding could be halted and wounds could be closed. The second she had finished, the Regent reached out and pulled her back into the carriage, yelling at her not to be so reckless and expose herself like that.

"Are you all alright?!" Kaiten shouted as he ran to us. "No one's hurt?!"

"We're fine!' I said. "Eiko healed us! Listen, some of them ran down the alleys! They're going to pass right under the Dragon Knights!"

"And these soldiers have to stay with the Regent to keep him alive!" Kaiten said. "Guys, it's up to us to track these bastards down! Trevor, Dante, rush down the far alley over there and take down anyone in a black mask! Seki, you're with me. We're taking the opposite side!"

"Kaiten, what's the objective?" I asked. "Capture or kill?"

Kaiten scanned around at the devastation, then looked back to me with fire in his eyes. "Kill. Leave capturing for the Dragon Knights."

He turned and ran down the alley to the left side with Seki right behind him. I unsheathed my short swords and turned to my partner. "Ready?"

Dante finished reloading his rifle and cocked the hammer. "Let's go! They're getting away!"

The members of the LF already had a head start on us. I took the lead with Dante right behind me. The buildings rose three stories on each side, expanding shadows like a blackened pit. The darkened alleys were littered with debris and abandoned crates. It would have been a hopeless pursuit, except our targets made no effort to cover their noise as they ran. Their footsteps and voices echoed easily in the narrow passage.

"Did we get them?" one nasally voice asked.

"I think so!" another answered. "My bomb hit the carriage! No way they're okay after that!"

"Hey, keep it down you two!" a third voice hushed. "Those rats are still around chasing the others! Do you want them to hear you?"

The footsteps slowed and quieted up ahead. Either they were being smarter and stepping carefully, or they were stopping. Either way, we had a chance to catch them. Energy flowed through my short swords, and I was ready to take these guys down by any means necessary.

"Three of them," I muttered quietly to Dante. "Sounds like they're around the corner. You ready?"

"Stay to the left," Dante suggested. "I'll try to take them down at range. You can run in and finish them off."

"Sounds efficient. Let's go!"

We both rounded the alley's corner, and sure enough, the three LF anarchists were standing around in a wide clearing, catching their breath before continuing down the adjacent alley. I skipped along the far left wall, never breaking my stride as Dante slid into position, gun raised and aiming down the scope. The three LF members saw us coming and pulled out their own weapons: two had rapiers and the third had a pair of daggers. I almost laughed at how little those would do to help them against me.

However, I never had the chance to unleash my fury. A large, dark figure fell from the building above, crashing behind them. The figure's arms reached out, taking one of the LF down with a horrifying crunch of broken bones as it landed. The other anarchists turned to face their new attacker. One was backhanded into a stack of crates while the other met the front end of a clawed gauntlet, earning a slash from hip to neck! His screams resounded off the walls, until the figure stomped down on his neck, breaking it in one sharp, gory snap!

The newcomer rose, standing well above both Dante and myself. Fresh blood graced the thinnest line along the edge of his single-bladed gauntlet, matched only by the red gem embedded in the back.

"Amarant?!" I blurted out. "I haven't seen you since Zidane returned! We've all been wondering where you wandered off to!"

Amarant only grunted at first. "I've been fighting. Only thing I'm good at."

Dante approached, gun lowered and hammer released. "He was one of the ten of you that went into Memoria, right?"

"He is," I nodded and turned back to the big green man. "So, you went back into bounty hunter work or something?"

"Little else to do," Amarant said. "The whole team we made went their own ways, so I went back to what I knew. I've been going it solo ever since."

"Seems to have worked for you," I said. I couldn't remember if I had to crane my head up this much to see him before. He hadn't gotten just taller, but stronger as well. His muscles bulged like the hero in a bad 80's movie. Although, judging by how he batted a guy twenty feet through the air, I wasn't about to accuse him of using steroids.

"Hey, I have an idea!" I said. "Why not come work with us? We already know you're strong, and Kaiten would probably let you in no problem! We have a nice place in the Business District, and we're all gonna join the Tournament of Kings together! Well, Seki and I are anyway."

"You want me to join you?" Amarant asked, disbelieving at first. He folded his arms for a moment, then just shook his head. I didn't mention how much like Zidane he looked. "No dice. I've gotten used to being on my own again. I think I can get by without a team for a while longer."

"But you said it yourself! You're stronger in a team! You can really let loose if you know you have someone watching your back!"

Just then, there was a crashing from behind us. The LF member Amarant had tossed into the crates flung himself to his feet and made a break for it down the alleyway.

"Quick! Get him!" Dante shouted. He took aim down the scope, but growled in frustration. "You guys are in the way! I don't have a shot!"

"Don't just stand there!" Amarant yelled, and took off running. I was hot on his tail, running right behind him with my short swords drawn. Meanwhile, Dante stayed back and jumped up onto another nearby crate, taking aim once again.

Our fleeing LF anarchist seemed to know he had a gun trained on him. He zigzagged to and fro, doing everything he could to dodge us. He also knocked crates and trash cans over to delay us in any way. It did little to help, but the real trouble came into view soon enough. Up ahead, the alley ended into a crowded street. The thug tore off his black mask and tossed it over his shoulder. If he got into that crowd, he would disappear in seconds!

"Amarant!" I shouted. "Can't you run any faster?!"

"Like you're doing any better!" he quipped back. "What about your gun boy? Why isn't he doing anything?"

"He must not have a shot!"

"Then this might get real unpleasant, real fast!"

This was it. He was going to get away! I was already cursing myself for not being faster. Even if I extended a Demon Saber to its fullest, my attack would still come up short. I hated not having any ranged attacks!

As I started to give up hope, a low roar echoed within the alleyway. The very ground seemed to shake as a shadow passed overhead. Amarant and I slid to a halt as the shadow condensed on top of the LF member as another figure, much larger than Amarant this time, landed directly on top of him in a could of dust. I couldn't tell if the anarchist was killed at first, but with the crater he was now in, survival didn't seem likely.

"Ah, boys. What would you do without me?"

As the dust settled, I could see a young girl walk from around the corner and lean against the towering figure. I couldn't say I was too surprised to see Eiko standing with Madeen, her favorite summon. The massive humanoid lion growled, grinding her foot against the LF member before stepping away. Eiko smiled up at her oldest friend, saying a quick, "Thanks Mog!" before the Eidolon vanished into thin air.

"Eiko!" I called out as she walked towards us with an arrogant air of superiority. "Didn't know you were still practicing your summoning. Does the Regent know you're out here?"

"He sent me to the castle with a few guards," she said proudly. "I managed to slip away from them and thought you guys would need help."

"Pretty good timing," Dante said, strolling up with his rifle on both shoulders. "Little kids come in real handy these days, don't they?"

Eiko's face puffed up like a balloon as she turned to face Dante. "Don't call me a kid!"

Dante shrunk back at the scolding. "Uh, yes… Your Highness…" I still didn't see Eiko as the princess she was, and I was willing to bet Amarant never saw her as more than a whining brat, so Dante was the only one intimidated by her shrieking voice.

"Don't 'your highness' her," Amarant said. "She's the last person who's ego you want to inflate."

I turned to the green skinned bandit and held an open palm out. "Hi! Have we met?"

"Hey!" Eiko screamed. "I still haven't heard a thank you!"

"That's nice," Amarant grunted.

But Dante and I were a little kinder to the little girl. "Thanks," we both said.

"That's better!"

"Eiko, do you do this often?" I asked. "Sneak out and summon? I'm surprised the Regent lets you do that. After what Atamos did to his city, he's taken a pretty strong stance against Eidolons."

"Yeah," Dante agreed. "That's why he's been buying so many of my guns."

"Yeah, Father… doesn't exactly know about it…" Eiko admitted. "But I'm from Madain Sari! He's asking me to forget my whole family and village! And I get so booored in the castle! All this studying, and manners! It's not who I am! Besides, how else can I see Mog? It isn't right! So I practice… sometimes…"

"That's pretty good," I said. She sounded exactly like Zidane. "Very sneaky. Just like the Eiko I always thought you were."

"HEY!"

"Hey, I meant it as a compliment! Dagger's been so caught up in her duties as queen that I don't think she summons anymore. Keep it up and you'll definitely be better than her someday!"

Eiko's face lit up like a Christmas tree. "You really think so?" She pressed her fists against her hips and smiled triumphantly. "I knew I'd pass her someday! I'm the number one summoner on all of Gaia!"

Amarant sighed and turned back towards the alley. "You had to get her going, didn't you?" He started walking away, muttering to himself.

"Hey, Amarant! Hang on!" I called after him. "Don't leave yet! You can still join the Brotherhood if you want!"

Amarant stopped slowly, but looked back, sneering at the thought. "You said you're gonna be in the Tournament of Kings, right?"

"Uh, yeah, I am."

"Good. Then we'll see each other next week."

Before Amarant could slip into the dark alley again, I asked, "Are you at least gonna stay in touch with us?"

He didn't slow his gait, but called back, "If you beat me, then we'll talk."

Dante eyed me curiously. "Him? Join us? You think that would work out?"

"It has to," I said. "He acts like a big tough loner, but he really wants to be part of a team. Why else do you think he was here, ready to attack the LF? My guess is he was watching over Eiko."

"Me?" the little girl asked. I couldn't tell who was more perplexed, her, or Dante.

I took a step forward, towards our old, retreating friend. "Hey Amarant!"

But he only waved, his back towards us, as he slipped into the darkness once again.


	3. The Tournament of Kings

Disclaimer- I don't own any of the Final Fantasy characters in this story.

Author's notes: The next episodes of The Book Was Better are out! Eragon is a hit so far and Starship Troopers is doing well! :D The next review will be Starship Troopers 2, out in a week, so make sure to watch and enjoy that one as well! Tell your friends and share it on your facebook pages! XD Subscribe, comment, etc! Help get the word out! XD

I'll also be doing an introduction video explaining the show a little more, and I'll be taking suggestions for future reviews! Special bonus, you guys will get preference if you vote for movies you wanna see me review! Just list your name or make a reference to Shattered Mind so I know who you are! XD Just remember, the movie has to be based on a book.

Oh, and fun fact about the chapter: the extras that I use for the tournament are all names taken from my Dungeons and Dragons games. XD YAY NERD POINTS!

Chapter 3: Tournament of Kings!

XXXXXXXX

The vast desert expanse was a treasure trove of secrets. Many an explorer could spend years sifting through the sands finding untold wonders. Gems, old coins, ancient weapons were all free game for anyone to find. People could spend their whole lives uncovering lost wonders and would still never touch the vast collection hidden under the sand dunes. Some treasures were as small as a single coin. Some were as massive as Kuja's hidden Desert Palace.

It was that very reason the Spectral Knights had spent the last five months toiling in the sunlight.

Cyl's large frame gave him the biggest advantage in moving the sand. He appeared as only a speck, nearly impossible to see next to the frighteningly large structure he worked tirelessly to dig out. It still remained, buried within an enormous pit, with no end in sight. Centuries of sand and erosion wore the paint off, exposing the dull gray walls. Three months ago, the Spectral Knights had reached a door inside, and had since been clearing the structure and using it as a base of operations.

Their only saving grace had been the abandoned airship they found at the Shimmering Isle. Enormous, gray, and steam-powered, it became their main way of exploring Gaia discreetly, as well as a home of sorts. From what they could tell, this wasn't the most advanced airship on the planet, but it was one of the best Gaia had developed. It made searching for food and supplies far easier, though the distinct shape made exposure risky. Intel missions were few and far between now, with the need to hide the airship and approach villages and cities on foot.

Cyl walked up the impromptu steps they had made from spare wood, leading up from the bottom of the pit they dug. Two large barrels of sand weighed heavily on his shoulders as he climbed. Wood had to be flown in from the forests outside the Earth Shrine. Visiting the shrine reminded them of home and why they fought.

"Thanks Cyl," Remus said, taking a barrel from him as Cyl reached the top of the stairs. "Of course," came the reply. Karis took the second barrel and the two of them walked away as Cyl returned for more sand.

"I'll be glad to be gone from here!" Remus complained. "This sun's killing me!"

"Would you rather be moving the sand from _inside_ that thing?"

"Yes, actually. It's cooler inside, and I like exploring new places."

Karis smirked and shook his head. "You never cease to entertain me."

Reaching a sand dune far enough away, both men flipped their barrels over, pouring their cargo out. This was their daily regimen. Cyl or Borrik would fill the barrels and Remus and Karis would pour it out. It was a daunting task, but it was one the Spectral Knights could accomplish. They were alone on this planet, surviving off the land and salvaging whatever meat they could from the monsters they slew. This was new to them, yet strangely reminiscent of their lives in the military. They had trained their bodies and souls for intense missions like this one.

It had been a hard two years on this alien planet. Two long years, staying low, unnoticed, running around the globe learning the truth of Gaia and Terra. Through chance while exploring the planet, they discovered Oeilvert, Ipsen's Castle, and other Terran sites on Gaia, which lead them to the Namingway Desert. Barren sand covered the land for hundreds of miles, making food a constant concern. Stockpiled food didn't last long in the heat and the structure was filthy, so the Spectral Knights did their best to clear the sand away, quickly and cleanly.

The sand itself provided an interesting challenge. As powerful as the Spectral Knights were, their powers did little against the tiny grains. Blowing it up only allowed more sand to fill in and in the end didn't help them. Remus's Quake spell risked damaging the structure, and Zareth's monsters were too large and too powerful to use.

"Damned heat," Ank complained from inside the darkened tunnels inside the structure. An ancient power cell let them have some light, but being almost 1000 years old, it didn't provide nearly the light that it once could. The cell hung from a lantern on the crooked wall.

Even inside, the heat was almost unbearable. Centuries ago, several doors had opened, pouring sand throughout much of the structure. The entire foundation was off-kilter, making the climb inside that much harder. Ank and Aiex worked together, complaining together while doing their best to dig sand out through whatever door they could find.

"How much more do you think we have to go?" Aiex asked. "Maybe another two months?"

"Probably more," Ank said. He hooked a bucket to a pulley connected to the closest door down the angled hall. Once it reached outside, the bucket dumped the sand into a barrel for Cyl and returned. "I'll be pissed as hell if this whole plan doesn't work though. I'm so sick of this backwater planet!"

"It'll work," Aiex said. "Even if I have to kill every Gaian on the planet to rescue the LT!"

"Hey, easy man," Ank said. "Just making conversation."

"Ugh, right. Sorry." Aiex just attached another bucket to the pulley system, giving it a few hard tugs.

"Hey, another door!" Ank proclaimed. He tossed the surrounding sand aside as best he could, struggling to keep it from falling back down against the door. The five-foot frame rested sideways with a rotary crank keeping it bolted in place. "I'm gonna open it!"

"You're joking," Aiex accused tiredly, but saw Ank twisting the crank anyway. "You're not joking. You do remember what happened last time, right?"

"Yeah, which is why you should hold on to something!" Ank grinned as the small knife in his hands started to glow. The door strained against him, spending unknown years sealed shut, no doubt with sand caught between the gears as well. However, as Ank's blade burned the rust and sand away with Purple Magic, Aiex looked around for something to hold on to, but the walls were smooth and sand offered him no aid.

"Ank, wait!"

But Ank's hands dug at the gears around the door, searing away the resistance in the door. With one more forceful turn of the crank, the door flew open. The entire door fell open, with the hinges on the far side of the frame. The sand poured out like a river. Ank was pulled down at once, falling through the door and grabbing the crank. He hung limply as sand continued to pour out over his head, looking down at the 150-foot drop below. He grinned for a moment as he heard a yell above him. He held his hand into the sand flow, just in time as Aiex fell out. Both men held on to each other's wrist, watching as the sand went from steady flow, to a light trickle.

"You damned idiot!" Aiex scolded.

"Still saved your ass," Ank shot back.

"Hey! What are you both doing up there?!"

Ank and Aiex looked down to see an upset Cyl covered in freshly poured sand. One of his barrels had capsized. "You just undid two hours' worth of work!"

"Probably saved ourselves three hours," Ank muttered before shouting, "Sorry Cyl!"

Cyl dusted himself off, but with his short, spiky blonde hair, he would likely be flaking sand for a week. He lifted the capsized barrel, cursing to himself all the while. The heat was drying up everyone's patience. Day by day passed so repetitively that they had all stopped noticing progress. Karis often voiced on whether or not they would ever unearth this monstrosity, but Aitris insisted they keep at it. Once it had been excavated, their plans would rush forward. That was when the fighting would really begin. Aiex looked forward to it in particular, saying he needed to vent his frustrations.

"Guys, calm down!" Borrik said from outside the growing pit. "Look up! Aitris is back!"

They small, gray airship soared in the distance, approaching from the west. The gray face stood out in the sky and was always a welcome sight, either for food or for returning comrades with gathered Intel. Luck was on their side when they first discovered it. Without this airship, their mission could have failed long, long ago. When they got it moving, Aitris christened it _Olessa's_ _Hope._

_Olessa's Hope_ landed away from the structure, so as not to spill more sand into the pit. Aitris, Makareth and Zareth stepped down the ramp from the front of the ship. Remus often joked how ridiculous the airship looked with the ramp down, almost as if her lower jaw was unhinging. The three returning knights carried heavy backpacks with supplies, but the real purpose of these trips was Intel, the more valuable cargo.

The others continued working, even as Aitris walked up. "Borrik!" he called down into the pit. "We brought some griffin for you to cook up! And Mak found some spices, so make us something nice. We're celebrating tonight!"

The word caught Remus' attention at once. "What's up? What're we celebrating?"

"EVERYONE GATHER!" Aitris called. He walked into the shade of the structure and pulled a banner from his backpack, showing it to the others. It showed a golden crown set over a black circle. "This," he began, "is all over Alexandria. Capital city, outlying villages, everything. They're calling it the Tournament of Kings. It's a fighting tournament being presented before the royal leaders of the Alliance."

"What's it matter to us?" Ank asked. "Are we going to attack and take out the royals all at once?"

"There's not much to celebrate about that!" Remus said. "Is it Kaiten? Is he going to be competing?"

"You're both partially right," Aitris said. "Yes, this will be our best chance to rescue Kaiten, but we need to be careful about it. I managed to get a look at the tournament roster."

"We found a worker who was quite talkative," Makareth said. "Gave us a few helpful details before Sarge cut his throat."

"Very true," Aitris said. "Kaiten isn't among them, but there is someone of interest who is."

"The Earthling," Cyl surmised.

"Yes. Trevor McEvoy will be fighting, and the remaining False Terran will be watching over it all. We can safely assume Kaiten will at least be in the audience. This will be our best chance to not only kill the one who tried to destroy Terra, but the man who brainwashed the Lieutenant as well!"

"Are we going to pause from digging this old thing up?" Karis asked hopefully.

Aitris shook his head. "We need it unearthed now more than ever, but we know we're close to done! Remus, Cyl, and Zareth will come with me to Alexandria to rescue Kaiten. The rest of you will stay here and continue digging."

Cyl and Zareth said nothing, even though Remus let out a short cheer. It was like being granted leave, even if they were on mission. Soon, Kaiten would return to them, and they could all save Terra together.

"We're close guys," Aitris assured them. "Once we get Kaiten back, we'll be a complete team once again, and he'll have information about this planet greater than anything we've recovered so far! We'll be unstoppable! We WILL bring Terra back!"

The moment rallied the Spectral Knights up into a cheer, followed by, "The Spectral Knights shall never die!"

They spent almost a year exploring the ancient Terran ruins left on Gaia. Ruins like Oeilvert were especially useful. If the information they gathered was correct, then there was still a way to restore Terra! The Spectral Knights were now the best hope for their entire planet.

They would not fail.

XXXXXXXX

The day had finally come! The Tournament of Kings was in full swing!

All of the Tempest Brotherhood took the day off to attend. Even Wayne showed up with us, promising to cheer for Seki and myself from the stands. I was so excited that I almost didn't get any sleep! It was just like waiting for Christmas all over again! We all piled into the Invincible at dawn and Kaiten flew us to Alexandria, taking his sweet time. I was sure he was making a game out of teasing me.

Seki was as excited as I was. She refused to sit still and instead stood at the front of the bridge, looking out through the main screen to the passing fields below. Her kids had joined us as well. They were almost as bouncy as Seki was, anxious to see her compete, but also impatient to see the festival at Alexandria. I just sat in my chair, bouncing my legs while looking over the Invincible's maps, impatiently watching us cross the border. My short swords found their way to my hands more than once, twirling in my grip.

We finally arrived, just as the opening festival was underway! Despite the warmth of late summer, there was a slight morning chill that filled my lungs and made me feel alive! The streets were lined with vendors barking their sales. Fresh food had been flown in from all over the kingdom. I took note of some of the sweets they had arranged, grabbing what looked like a cinnamon roll wrapped around a stick. It turned out to be lightly toasted bread coated in honey. Suddenly, I was back in a Renaissance Faire.

All of us walked together towards the coliseum. Kaiten told us to look tall and proud since this was a good chance to display ourselves as strong mercenaries. He had to tell Seki and myself to settle down. We were too giddy to act serious.

"Looks like this is it," Kaiten said, trying to act fatherly again. We had reached a crossing at the coliseum. One path led to the stands, while the other led to the bloodworks in the basement. That was where Seki and I were headed. Kaiten shook our hands, followed by Dante and Wayne. "Good luck guys. Just take care not to kill each other in the finals. Your deaths involve more paperwork than I care to do."

Seki's kids rushed to hug her good luck all at once. She scooped her arms around them as they all cheered her on.

"Good luck Mom!"

"Kick their butts!"

"I know you're gonna win!"

Seki beamed at them all, giving each a kiss on the forehead. Her boys recoiled, but that only made her pull them in and give them an extra kiss. "Here," she said, reached under her armor. She pulled out a small sack of gil. "Wei, take this," she said. "You guys go ahead and buy yourselves some snack and drinks if you get hungry or thirsty. I'm probably going to be stuck down here all day, so stay with Kaiten, Dante or Wayne, okay?"

The kids all agreed, opening the small bag to see all the coins inside.

"I must admit, it'll be good to see you guys in action again," Wayne said. "I haven't seen you fight since the last Festival of the Hunt."

"You should've seen us last week during the procession!" Dante laughed. "If I ever needed a better way to demonstrate the success of my design, that was it!"

"Just don't forget who built those guns now," Wayne nudged.

"The bonus we got from the Regent was a nice touch too," Kaiten said. "But let's not lose focus. Trevor, Seki, go show everyone why the Tempest Brotherhood is the strongest!"

"Yes, sir!" Seki said joyfully.

"You got it boss," I chuckled.

"Don't be so sure of yourselves."

We turned to the antagonizing voice and saw bright red armor adorned on a strong, thin frame. Freya stood before a column of Dragon Knights, all leading the King of Burmecia. Her polearm flared in the morning sunlight. It looked like she had polished it for today. I was going to have to be careful against her.

"Freya!" Seki chirped up at once. She ran to her old friend's side. "You're looking shinier than usual!"

"Of course," Freya said, slamming the pommel of her polearm into the ground for effect. "I'm representing the might of the Dragon Knights! I must look my best!"

"It'll suck when you get dirt on it," I joked.

A loud bell resounded from the top of the coliseum walls. Its sharp ring earned everyone's attention, encouraging the crowds to hurry towards the towering, circular stadium. A barker was outside the bloodworks, shouting for all competitors to hurry inside.

"Looks like we're up," I said. "Let's go!"

Freya turned to her troops and nodded. They understood at once and funneled into the arena. The King of Burmecia made his way towards an unused staircase towards a special box seat prepared just for him and his bodyguards. Even Prince Puck was with him today, dressed in his usual red overalls and hat, excited to have the unique high-rise view of the fights. Perhaps he only made a royal appearance when it suited him.

"Trevor, don't go on full offence!" Kaiten shouted as the three of us walked away. "And Seki, conserve your energy! Don't just bounce around like a wild rabbit!"

Seki and I waved back at him as he led Dante and Wayne into the stands. "Think he worries too much?" Seki asked. "He's acting like he thinks he's our father."

I laughed. "Nah. We're just his new squad. He wants us to win."

The bloodworks really didn't live up to their name. Being brand new, they didn't have any blood on the floors. In fact, a sign hung over the entrance, calling the room, "Fighters' Readying Room". Given time though, that would likely change, especially if Zidane and Dagger kept the coliseum open for more tournaments throughout the year.

Several fighters were already waiting inside. Brawlers, knights, fencers, and even one guy with a bow. Out of all of them though, the tall fighter with the gauntlets leaning against the far wall caught my attention. Amarant had already beaten us here and had probably been here a while, checking out the competition. He even seemed a little energetic, actually looking up for a change. He locked eyes with us as Freya, Seki and I walked over to him.

"Hey Amarant!" I said. "Been waiting long?"

He just grunted at first. "About time you got here. I was starting to think you pussed out."

"And miss a chance to kick your sorry ass? Forget it."

"Amarant," Freya nodded. "I see you're as pleasant as ever."

"Freya," he nodded back.

"So this is Amarant?" Seki asked. "Hi, nice to meet you! I'm Seki!" She held her arm out to greet him, but Amarant left her hanging.

"Don't let it get to you," I assured Seki as her arm dropped. "He's like that to everybody."

"I'm just here to fight," Amarant explained. "Not to make friends."

"Well, unless we beat you. Then you have to sign up with the Brotherhood."

"I never agreed to that. I only said I'd think about it. And besides, you'd have to beat me, which isn't going to happen."

"We'll see."

We spent the next half hour waiting with each other. Amarant had grown more sociable, though he still gave Seki the cold shoulder from time to time. Seki just pouted at him, but it didn't seem to affect the bandit at all. As we chatted, more and more fighters showed up, slowly filling the bloodworks, until there were 32 of us in all. Some were huge, some were agile, but for the most part, the only challenges here had been talking to me for the last 30 minutes.

A barker for the tournament, dressed in a red tabard with silver trim, stepped into the room and called for attention. "Ladies and gentlemen! We are about ready to begin! I would ask that you line up along the door. You will then proceed out into the Gladiator's Circle to present yourselves before the royalty. After you have been announced, you will be called one at a time to draw lots from a box. This will determine the order in which you fight!

"Fights will be fought one at a time, no more than two people in the circle at a time. You are to fight until one of you surrenders, is knocked out, or becomes too injured to continue. If you feel you are too injured to go on, there will be white mages ready to cure whatever injuries you may have, but know that requesting their aid is considered an automatic forfeit. Potions are not allowed inside the circle and their use will lead to your disqualification. You may use whatever magic or weapons you like. Keep in mind that even though there are white and red mages protecting the audience from any stray attacks, we ask that you do your best to prevent any projectile or magic from leaving the circle. Now, are there any questions?"

"Yeah!" one larger man bellowed from the crowd. "Why don't you shut up and let us fight?"

The barker ignored the comment and the laughter from some of the other fighters. "If there are no real questions, please proceed to the door. We will be starting the opening ceremony any moment now."

Seki, Freya, Amarant and I lined up, edging in at the end of the line. Several of the larger thugs fought and shoved for position, as if it mattered. It would feel pretty good taking those guys down. I felt pretty good at my chances. I just had to hope I wouldn't fight my friends in the first round or two. I wanted to show off against easier opponents at first to rouse the crowd.

"Some of these guys look pretty strong," Seki said so only the four of us could hear. "I hope I don't have to fight that huge guy with the axe."

"Getting a little worried, Seki?" Freya asked. "You were so excited a minute ago."

"Just trying not to get overconfident. After all, out of the four of us, I'm the only one who didn't fight in Memoria."

"You should be fine," Freya smirked. "That is, until you fight me. Remember, I know your weakness."

Seki shrank back and pressed her arms at her sides, as if trying to protect them. I looked at Freya curiously. "Her weakness?"

Seki looked at Freya angrily. "Don't you dare!" she threatened.

Freya gave me a sinister grin and said, "She's ticklish."

I looked back at Seki, a sinister grin of my own growing. "Oh reeeallly?"

Seki blushed and slapped Freya on the shoulder. "I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU SAID THAT!"

Amarant watched the whole event unfold and sighed. "Maybe coming here was a mistake. It's too loud."

"Don't worry big guy," I said. "You'll have people cheering for you soon enough."

Trumpets blared outside. The barker told us it was time and lead us outside. One by one, fighters walked outside into the bright morning sun. Warm sand carpeted the ground in all directions, most likely to absorb the spilled blood. As I stepped through the wide tunnel, I had to squint at first. The light blinded me for a moment, but I could hear the crowed well before I could see them. When my vision finally adjusted, I could see the rows and rows of seats all around us. Hundreds, if not thousands of people were cheering all around. I craned my head as I walked, looking for Kaiten and the others.

Most prominent were the Royal seats. The Alexandrian seats were straight ahead out of the tunnel. Zidane and Dagger were already standing, Dagger looking beautiful in a rose red dress with wide hips. Zidane wore a matching vest and cape, with white sleeves and black pants. He didn't look as itchy as he did two weeks ago when I last saw him. Even Vivi was there, clapping his heart out. Beatrix and Steiner were also in the booth, but maintained a silent vigil over the crowd.

I looked around as we reached the center of the circle. The barker got us to continue walking into a large ring around a large box. Freya and Seki each gave a salute to the King of Burmecia, as he and Puck clapped for the fighters. Amarant just folded his arms and sulked, but he did it while glancing up at the Lindblum booth. Regent Cid and Hilde wore a matching set of blue and purple. Eiko was with them, wearing a simple but elegant purple dress and matching gloves laced with pink. I just kept looking around, keeping my eyes open for Kaiten, but it was nearly impossible with the erupting crowd.

"Seki!" I shouted to her standing next to me in the circle. "You see Kaiten anywhere?"

"Tenth row back!" she called back, pointing to her left. "On the stands over there!"

Sure enough, Kaiten, Dante, Wayne and the kids were all cheering. Seki's kids were jumping on the stands, screaming their heads off. Wayne and Dante were clapping and screaming things at me, but there was no way I would ever hear them over the roar of the crowd. Kaiten just clapped, but that seemed more his style. At least he was smiling.

In the center of the circle, the barker held his hands up, asking for silence. It took several seconds for the applause to die down, but soon enough he was left with empty air. "Your Royal Highnesses! Noble Lords and Ladies! Men, women and children! Welcome to the first Tournament of Kings!"

He was met with another wave of applause, which he quickly asked to recede. "These are the best and bravest of all the warriors from the Mist Continent! From mighty knights to daring adventurers, they have all come to prove their mettle for you today! They shall pit themselves one by one against each other, until only one is crowned…" He paused and held his arms out for dramatic effect. "KING OF THE TOURNAMENT!"

The stands erupted in wild cheering once again. This time, the barker didn't call for silence, but instead waved to the bloodworks, where two assistants were waiting in the hallway. They carried a large box, adorned with a crown over a black circle, resting it in the center of our circle.

"Fighters!" the barker called. "Please step forward when you are called. Pull a token from the box and present it to me. The token will be numbered and this will determine when you fight!"

The barker started calling us one at a time. The two assistants brought a board out as well, setting it down by the barker. It looked like a rolling blackboard that my teachers used when I was younger, except there had slots to hold the tokens we pulled.

"Trent Bodwen… Kashiim Ordell… Milo Woodharp…" the barker continued to call. It felt like forever until he finally called, "Trevor McEvoy!" My heart jumped into my throat as I stepped up. People were still cheering quietly, erupting as each fighter pulled out their token. Being watched like this was different than the Festival of the Hunt. Now, every eye in the coliseum was looking right at me. I reached into the ballot box until I felt a heavy rounded coin. I pulled it out and the barker took it from my hand before I could even look at it.

"Number 9!" he called to the assistants, tossing them the token.

The fighters were crowding the board as they were called. I watched as Seki, Freya and Amarant were called forth. Amarant wound up in the first quarter bracket. I wouldn't be able to fight him until the semifinals. Freya was in the third, so I would see her in the finals, while Seki and I would meet in the second bracket during the quarterfinals. That would give us some time to rest up and really make a show out of our bouts.

My first match was against a rather rotund fellow with an enormous waraxe. He could probably cleave through a man in one swipe with that monstrosity! I would have to be careful. At least he had very little armor. I would have to duck under his first swing and I would win easily. I was really looking forward to it!

"This is so exciting!" Seki said as the last token was drawn. It was next to Freya. Her first fighter was a large man in heavy armor so thick you couldn't even see his face, named Tangulan Kenitch. We all stood together, looking at the competition. Some of them might fare well, but after facing down the Chaos Guardians, Damien as Deathguise and Necron, fighting people didn't seem like that big a deal anymore.

"All fighters, please exit to the readying room," the barker asked us. The assistants carried the ballot box and tournament board to the far wall, waiting just inside the tunnel to the bloodworks. "The first fight will now commence! Amarant Coral vs. Tabuk Mangulan!"

The crowd erupted again as everyone piled out of the sandy pit. Amarant just stood still at the center, cracking his knuckles as a large barbarian with a giant sword resting on his shoulder stared him down. The guy's weapon was enormous. It was longer than I was tall and had to weigh close to fifty pounds! It was more like a solid bar of iron than a real sword. We all piled into the bloodworks to wait for our own matches.

"Looks like a fun fight for you," I said, chuckling at what the battle would look like. "You getting pumped?"

The bandit just grunted. "This shouldn't take long. I'll kick his ass and be back in less than a minute."

I started to walk away, anxious to see the tournament start. "Good luck Amarant!"

"I don't need it!"

All the fighters piled into the tunnel. The bloodworks didn't have much in the way of windows, but there were portals for us to look through from inside. I ran to a window as quickly as I could as several other fighters gathered around the portal with me. Seki and Freya stood by me as the barker raised his hands between the two. There was a palpable silence as the crowd roared for the fight to begin.

"BEGIN!"

Tabak broke into a run, hoisting his fifty-pound sword high over his shoulder. Amarant only slid a foot back, adopting a defensive stance. He readied his arms at his front and side as usual, but otherwise seemed unconcerned by the approaching assault. I was honestly growing concerned for a moment, almost shying away as the heavy blade came down. But that was only the beginning of Amarant's counter.

The red-haired bandit dodged the swing, standing only inches from where the blade crashed into the sand. It happened so quickly that I barely saw it at all. He moved only what little he had to, which was brilliant! He didn't use any excess energy, raising a foot to stand on the flat of the blade, keeping it buried. This was the exact opposite of his fighting style when we first met him. Before, he was sporadic, fighting for the thrill and the challenge of it! Now, he was patient and collected. This was a far more dangerous version of the man.

Tabak tried to pull back on his blade, but Amarant leapt to meet him, slamming his other foot on the top of the crossguard. The added weight was far more than he barbarian could hold, and the sword fell from his grip. A cloud of sand flew up, and Amarant walked forward as Tabak stepped back in retreat.

"Give up now and I won't hurt you," Amarant bargained. "Or don't. I'll win either way."

"Give up?" Tabak repeated, almost stunned by the offer. "No! I'm not going down like that!"

He pulled a smaller broadsword from his back, hidden under his shirt. The crowd seemed to think it was a dirty trick, but neither fighter cared much. Either way, it didn't matter. Amarant continued his advance, but Tabak jumped back, readying an attack, swinging wide to the side.

It was obvious that he never practiced with his smaller blade. The larger one threw off his perception for smaller weapons, so when Tabak attacked, he swung his entire upper body into it, throwing himself off balance into Amarant's readied block. The broadsword met the red gem of Amarant's gauntlet, and the bandit just shrugged.

"Whatever," he said. "I offered."

Amarant moved in quickly, closing the gap between the two of them in a second. Both hands were held at his side and snapped in to attack. The first claw backhanded Tabak, earning him an explosion in the face, while the second carried in with a hook to the gut. A second explosion blasted Tabak off his feet, tearing through his pitiful armor and knocking him to his back. Blood sprayed onto the sand as Tabak crashed down, gasping for breath.

"Give up now?" Amarant asked. He towered over the broken barbarian, and it drove the crowd wild!

"Incredible!" the barker announced. "In a surprising display of magic and skill, Amarant Coral advances to the next stage of combat, winning over the mighty Tabak Mangulan!"

Amarant played it cool as he sauntered back inside. White mages tended to Tabak, who picked up his sword in humiliation and was escorted out of the coliseum. Inside the bloodworks, many other fighters grumbled, some saying Amarant's victory was a fluke, others saying Tabak was all bark and no bite. Amarant didn't seem to hear any of them, instead walking straight to the three of us as we waited for him.

"Great job!" I said. "You were right. That took less than a minute."

"I imagine most of them will be that way," he said. "Now I get to sit back and watch the rest of you struggle. Should make for a good show."

"As arrogant as always," Freya said. "Yet your form has vastly improved. You may put up a fight yet."

"Then don't get knocked out before the finals and we can find out who's stronger!"

"Yeah, that's not gonna work," I interrupted. "Freya's gonna fight _me_ in the finals."

"That's assuming you can beat me first," Seki teased.

The next few fights were nothing compared to Amarant's one-sided show. The fight between the archer and the sword-and-board knight was amusing, until the archer ran out of arrows and the knight smashed his newly spiked shield into the poor man's chest. It was over pretty quickly after that.

Soon, and at long last, it was finally my turn!

"Trevor McEvoy and Aziz Cerhohl!" the barker called. My opponent played it cool, hoisting his massive axe on his shoulder and walking along like he was about to chop down a tree. Maybe in his mind, that was exactly what he was thinking. That would be his downfall.

I didn't bother hiding my excitement, laughing like a kid at his birthday party. The others wished me luck as I skipped to the fighters' circle, but I was too busy cackling to myself to hear them. I normally fought with only a partner far away from the public, so having an audience to show off to would give me a group to show off to. Besides, winning would be a good way to pick up chicks.

We both reached the middle of the circle and I took another look around. Kaiten and the others were clapping their hardest for me. A glance at the royal box seats showed Dagger and Zidane maintaining their composure but still clapping harder than usual. Vivi was jumping out of his seat. If public opinion meant anything, I would have already won this fight.

Aziz pulled his axe free from his shoulder and it crashed into the sand. Nimble as I was, that axe was heavy enough that even a glancing blow would probably cut off a limb. I'd have to be careful.

"Listen up!" Aziz called out, shouting over the crowd. "I know how you Tempest Brotherhood guys think you're the best!"

"Our service record certainly thinks that," I quipped.

Aziz growled at that. "Your boss says if I beat anyone in your gang, then I get to join!"

"I guess that _is_ a rule of ours." I turned to look back at Kaiten. I pointed at him, then at Aziz. Kaiten just shrugged, then waved it off with a shake of the head. I laughed and turned back to my opponent. "Yeah, he says no."

Aziz snorted in anger. "I'm gonna chop you in half! Then your boss won't have a choice and he'll have to let me join!"

"Fighters, are you ready?" the barker called again. I gave a thumbs up and Aziz gave a war cry.

"BEGIN!"

Aziz wasted no time attacking. Slamming his axe into the ground had been more than a show; it was a tactic. He kicked the blade up, throwing a wave of sand my way. I saw him running at me before I brought my hand up to shield myself. I had to dodge, but one wrong step here would mean more than losing. This guy was set to kill me!

Aziz was probably somewhat trained in strategy, so any way I ran, he had the reach for. With that in mind, I did the only thing that made sense. I stepped towards him, well within my own reach.

The move worked, throwing Aziz off his game. He struggled to swing his axe and strike me at the same time, but the awkward move forced him to pull his weapon inwards, missing me by several feet and throwing him off balance. I pressed Azure against his stomach, channeling a beam into the blade.

"Bye now!"

A Demon Saber ripped through Aziz's armor and pierced his entire gut. The sudden shock made him drop his axe and fall to his side. I withdrew the purple magic before it did any fatal damage. I had done my best to avoid any major organs, though his liver might need to be looked at. A good dose of white magic would fix most of that up, though I wouldn't go drowning my sorrows in alcohol just yet.

I backed off while the white mages ran to his side and started curing him instantly. The crowd was mixed between screaming wildly and staring in awe. I nodded to Kaiten quickly and he just smirked. If he wanted to show off the Tempest Brotherhood, we were off to a great start!

"And the winner!" the barker shouted as Aziz was carried off. "Trevor McEvoy!"

I strutted back to the bloodworks, hands in my pockets, as the barker called the next match. The others were waiting for me, Freya with a proud, but confident smirk, and Amarant with his arms crossed, still staring out the window. Seki bolted up and wrapped her arms around me.

"Trevor, that was incredible!" she said, almost too quickly to understand. ""I think you set the record for shortest match!"

"Maybe," I said. "Looks like you have a benchmark to beat for your next fight Amarant."

Amarant just grunted at first. "Fighting isn't everything, you know."

Amarant was a lot different than when we last saw him. It had been two whole years on his own. What had he done? What had he seen? I asked him about it, but he only grunted, and didn't say any more than that. Freya and I exchanged confused glances. This change wasn't unwelcomed, but it was unexpected.

The current fight finished with minimal bloodshed. Two armored knights traded blows until one of them surrendered, unable to continue. The crowd cheered for the winner, a stocky man with a mythril blade. He would be my next opponent. His armor would slow him down, and I could slice through his sword easily enough. He wouldn't be much challenge.

"Up next!" the barker called. "Kashiim Ordell vs. Seki Fureki!"

"Ooh, I'm up!" Seki said. She took a deep breath. "Alright, time to get serious. Wish me luck guys!"

"Fight well!" Freya said.

"Kick some ass Seki!" I called out.

She waved and spun around, jogging to the arena. Her opponent was a moderately sized man in a heavy, dark blue cloak. A hood kept his head covered as well, leaving only a small slit for his eyes. I thought he looked like a mage, but when he reached the inner circle of the arena, he dropped back to a martial stance. Hand to hand against a Dragon Knight with far more range meant this fight might be over sooner than mine was.

"BEGIN!"

I had seen Seki fight plenty of times and even sparred with her every now and then. I knew how strong she was and what she could really do. This fight would be easy for her. She started off rushing in and kicking away to the side, circling around Kashiim in a playful strategy she had used against me plenty of times. Her insanely powerful legs could keep her running for hours, and since he was in range of her opponent, he would never see the attack coming.

"Hey Freya," I said as the battle started. "I don't know if you had any plans, but after this, why don't we all go grab some drinks? We need to hang out more! And Amarant, don't think you can get away from that either. I'm gonna force you to go!"

"With what authority?" he asked.

"Rank. I'll have more seniority than you when you join up. After I beat you, of course."

"Like that'll happen."

Freya chuckled at us. "Drinks would sound lovely. And it has been a while since I've seen the kids. Maybe Seki would…"

Freya's expression dropped. She leaned forward, almost sticking her head into the window. I had gotten lost in conversation for the moment that I wasn't sure what she was looking at, but then I saw it, and I nearly did the same.

Kashiim had hidden a thin blade under his cloak. As Seki swung in to attack, Kashiim withdrew his blade, slamming down on her polearm and driving it into the sand. He then stepped in, driving the sword into her back and lifting her into the air, away from her spear. Blood dripped down his arm, and he held her, as if waiting for her to give up or bleed out. Seki was screaming over the crowd. She clutched her stomach as the white mages rushed the field.

The crowd cheered in the sudden upset, and it seemed that Freya, Amarant and I were the only quiet voices in the bloodworks. Kashiim tossed Seki onto the sandy ground, slipping his sword back under his cloak.

"The winner: Kashiim Ordell!"


	4. Identity Shattered

Disclaimer- I don't own any of the Final Fantasy characters in this story.

Author's notes: OK, I'm afraid it's good news/bad news time.

The good news is that my review show is going better than I anticipated. I have a Facebook page dedicated to it (Link in my profile, feel free to join), and I've submitted it to TGWTG for further views, and (if I'm EXTREMELY lucky), consideration for publication on their site. The Green Lantern is out, and my next reviews of The Relic and The Last Song look like they're going to be really good as well!

Now, for the bad news. As some of you already know, I work for the United States Federal Government (that's right, I'm a Fed!). Sadly, the idiots in congress can't do their jobs right, and as such, I'm currently working without a paycheck and no guarantee that they'll come through with back pay (and even if they do, I'll be taxed more for it). As such, I've decided to take a month off from Shattered Mind so I can work on my show more. But rest assured, THIS IS IN NO WAY GOING TO STOP ME FROM CONTINUING SHATTERED MIND. I just need to work on some more episodes, hopefully to help elevate me as a reviewer so I can take that on as a real side job. And nothing will stop me from giving you guys an absolutely kick ass chapter for December, since that's SHATTERED MIND'S 7TH ANNIVERSARY! XD

I'll try to have a special something set up for you guys by then, possibly through my show. In the meantime though, have fun with this month's chapter! :D

Also, I'm sorry this chapter was late. I just got really sick for the last few days and wasn't feeling anything creatively. XP

Chapter 4: Identity Shattered.

XXXXXXXX

The halftime show was a military tattoo, playing as the noonday sun shined overhead. 32 fighters had been reduced to only 8, and the quarterfinals were set to begin after we had all been given a short chance to rest. Freya, Amarant and I had finished our fights quickly and easily. Freya and I weren't in the mood to screw around with any untalented hacks who were fighting way out of their leagues. Amarant was just going along for the ride, though he understood our frustrations.

Seki's loss still pissed me off. After that Kashiim guy tossed her aside, he strolled back into the bloodworks, even before he had been declared the winner. Seki had been healed and was kicked out of the tournament. Embarrassed and ashamed, she hadn't gone to join the others in the stands yet. My guess was that she was sulking by herself either in the festival or on the ship. The results of her fight had been within the tournament rules, but that didn't make it any better.

"Trevor!"

I was pulled out of my thoughts and saw Freya standing at my side.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"Yeah, just watching the show," I said, as the Knights of Pluto demonstrated their formations. These guys had very few talents. Syncing their formation was not one of them. Individually, they were fine, but the point of the tattoo was to show the collected strength and teamwork of the troops. As a team, they were sloppy and discoordinated. Steiner was turning red just watching from the booth. It looked like it took all his willpower not to yell down at them in front of the entire kingdom.

"The Knights of Pluto everyone!" the barker came in. It looked like he had interrupted their routine, but the knights took it in stride, waving to the crowd as everyone clapped half-heartedly. "And next, from Lindblum, the Gunslinger Corps!"

"Hey, I'm upset too," Freya said. "But you can't let that cloud your judgment."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Seki underestimated her opponent. It happens. Just don't take it out on everyone around you."

"I haven't snapped yet, have I?"

"You cut your last opponent's sword in half and threatened to do the same to him."

"Verbal threats aren't against the rules."

Freya sighed. "Just stay focused until your next fight. If you're going to take your aggression out on anyone, let it out against him."

I scanned the room as the show outside reached a crescendo. My next fight was against Kashiim Ordell, the asshole who beat Seki. He stayed by himself in the back of the bloodworks. So far, he hadn't even been touched. No one had come close to hitting him. That would end with me. I frowned as I stared at him, and even though I couldn't see his eyes through his heavy cloak, I could have sworn he was staring me down too.

The rest of the tattoo concluded with a show by the Dragon Knights in a battle formation very similar to the dance Freya did at Cleyra, and two more shows by the Alexandria Army, a formations display and a performance by the military marching band. It was an impressive display by everyone, but I wasn't really in the mood to enjoy it.

The tournament was full of shows and surprises. Even Tantalus put on a performance of Lord Avon's short plays after the first round of bouts, with a second performance planned for after the semifinals. Same as the tattoo, I wasn't in the right mood to enjoy it, but it was good to know Dagger and Zidane were putting their all into this tournament.

The fights began again when the military cleared the arena. The barker called, "Amarant Coral and Milo Woodharp!" to the center. Amarant sighed and picked himself up from the floor, having missed the halftime show, preferring to rest instead. His opponent was a small man in a red cloak with matching steeple-crowned hat. He was a red mage, and a good one too, focusing on offense, but bolstering his defense with spells like Protect and Shell. He was small, but definitely not weak.

Amarant flexed his shoulders as he walked outside. Little Milo brought out a staff with a red gem at the tip. The staff stood a few inches taller than he was. Both fighters stood opposite each other and readied themselves for combat.

"BEGIN!"

Amarant wasted no time and burst into a rush. He swung his Rune Claws wide, but Milo was already ahead of him, casting Protect the first chance he got. He managed to get the spell off and a white light surrounded him. The light shattered as Amarant attacked, crashing into the smaller red mage and sending him flying. However, despite the crushing blow and subsequent explosion, Milo was no worse for wear, as the spell absorbed all damage for him. The worst he got was the scrape from sliding on the sand when he landed, but by then, he had another spell ready.

"Fira!" he cried, casting before he even stood up.

A plume of fire erupted from the ground inches from where Amarant had been standing. He tumbled out of the way, avoiding most of the fire, though his leg wound up lightly singed. As he pushed himself up, he could tell this fight would not be as easily won as his others.

Both fighters rose again. Milo was casting again, but Amarant held himself back. His legs were taut, ready to propel himself to the left or to the right, whatever the case may be. He kept himself unpredictable for Milo's magic.

The moment came and Milo's red gem flashed. "Thundara!" he called. A bolt of lightning broke through the air, giving Amarant almost no time to react. He jumped away, but a stray spark caught his burned leg, only adding to the damage. He gasped in surprise, landing hard on his side. The crowd cheered as Amarant climbed back to his feet, but by then, Milo was casting another spell.

"Thundara!"

Amarant didn't repeat his last mistake, this time running through the casting. The spell missed him, but the exertion didn't help his leg any. His pant leg was torn and scorched. A ring of cloth fell free, nearly tripping him as he kicked it off. Milo took the chance of Amarant's run to charge another spell.

"Blizzara!"

Freya and I watched the fight in silence, with only a hint of concern. In a fistfight, Amarant was one of the strongest fighters on the planet, but up against magic, he could be outmatched like anyone else. And Milo was no pushover. He used magic quickly and with clever strategy. So far, Amarant had bowled over his opponents, ending the fights in seconds. This time though, he was in trouble.

Amarant continued to run, doing his best to avoid the magic cast at him. Milo cast another Protect spell on himself, then returned to offense. The whole time, he kept Amarant at a distance, moving only slightly when needed, forcing the bandit away. With his injured leg, Amarant didn't see a real chance to attack, but he had fought far worse than this. He would make one.

"Fira!" Milo cast again, this time aiming for the ground in front of Amarant.

Amarant saw the attack coming and nearly ran into the flames, but twisted his entire body at the last second. He felt the incredible warmth cover half his body as he dodged at the last second, but now he was where he had to be, facing Milo. He tore into a mad dash, ignoring the pain racing up his leg and gritting his teeth.

Milo saw his mistake and began casting another spell. Thundara had done well for him, so he channeled his spell as quickly as he could, numbing his sense of imminent dread. The spell shot straight at Amarant at an arc, giving the bandit no time to dodge this time. However, what Milo didn't see was Amarant was preparing a spell of his own. Their cries mixed as both magics launched at once.

"Thundara!"

"Demi Shock!"

A bolt of lightning crashed into Amarant's chest, stunning him for a moment, but he only slid to his knees, recovering after half a step. Milo had been caught unaware as a dark orb surrounded him and compressed the very air about him. His Protect spell had guarded him from physical attacks only. Magic still penetrated as if he had done nothing to defend himself. Milo felt his skin and bones shrink, crushing him like he was trapped under a collapsing building. Just as the spell finally seemed to let up, it sent a jolt of energy through him, numbing him to the core.

The spell had been unexpected, but what had really surprised him was Amarant's sudden appearance before him. Amarant had never slowed his run, and now towered over Milo like he had at the start of the fight. One punch knocked Milo to the ground and shattered his Protect spell, then the other came in, driving into his back. The explosion had knocked all the wind out of the red mage's small frame. The only thing to save him was that his red cloak hid the blood welling up on his back. He could only breath in small gasps as Amarant kicked his staff away.

The crowd roared their approval of the sudden turnaround. "The winner!" the barker cried. "Amarant Coral!"

White Mages came to tend to Milo's injuries, but he only healed himself and walked out of the arena. Amarant continued on his way, not waiting for the mages to heal his leg as well. Instead, he found a spot to sit down in the bloodworks near Freya and myself. A pair of White Mages inside the room healed him as he sat, without waiting for him to ask for help.

"Good fight," Freya said. "You had us worried for a bit."

"Yeah," I agreed.

"Wasn't much to him," Amarant admitted. "He cast quickly, but his spells didn't have a lot of impact to them. He's probably just used to fighting young monsters and maybe a few weak alleyway punks."

"A shame," Freya said. "If he studied more, he could be formidable. He's already quite the strategist."

"Next up!" the barker called, with the audience still high on the last fight's ending. "Trevor McEvoy vs. Kashiim Ordell!"

"This is it," I said. My heart beat quickly like my first fight, but this time it wasn't out of enthusiastic excitement. There was a twinge of fear weighing me down. My legs didn't move at first, until Freya patted my shoulder.

"Trevor, breathe," she said. "I know you're worried, but you need to clear your mind and focus."

"Who's worried?" I said, brushing her hand off. "I'm just pissed."

I found myself moving finally. Kashiim was already ahead of me, walking out of the tunnel. I tried to study him in his second fight, but I still knew almost nothing about the guy. He was incredibly quick, had at least one sword underneath his thick cloak which he could wield as dexterously as a dagger, and he had no obvious weaknesses. I didn't know if he could cast magic, if he had other weapons, or even what his face looked like. This man was dangerous.

We met in the middle of the arena, silent, save for the cheering crowd all around us. The two of us had set records for skill and fast rounds, so everyone had been looking forward to this match. I pulled out my swords and immediately started pouring my magic into them. The chi flowed forth like water down a rooftop, collecting at the tips. Kashiim only stood there, looking back at me. I still couldn't see his eyes.

"BEGIN!"

To counter Kashiim's agility, I would need something to match. As much as I wanted to cut through him like a Jedi with my Demon Sabers, it was too likely he could duck underneath and hit my core. I would need something closer, yet stable. My power welled, and a pair of purple spheres capped each blade. The Explosions would allow for flexibility, yet could still cut like a Demon Saber when I needed them to. Plus, they could blow up on command if all else failed.

I was ready, but Kashiim didn't move an inch. I took a step forward, adopting a defensive stance, but he still didn't budge. "What's with you?" I demanded, roaring over the crowd. "I know you have a sword! Take it out!"

I could practically hear Kaiten's voice, telling me to calm down. _Relax. It's a mind game. He's trying to psych you out. Don't let him!_ It was almost as if Kaiten and I had never parted.

Kashiim's cloak fluttered in the breeze, but he still didn't draw his sword. He was waiting for me to attack. It was how he won both fights. The attacker would get close, then he would counter and drive his sword through their torso in one decisive blow. He wouldn't get the same chance with me. I had to stay focused and end this quickly.

I took a running start and jumped. Kashiim barely even flinched as I flipped over him. When I landed, my entire body twisted, leading my blades at the cloaked villain. He only took a step back, turning around to face me as I did, and kicked a wave of sand in my face. I blocked what I could with my arm, but I still got speckled. I held up one short sword to defend myself while the other desperately clawed at the sand in my eyes.

Kashiim didn't move to attack though. He stood still, waiting for me to recover.

I spat a few grains as I spoke. "If you're trying to piss me off, it's not gonna work! I have much better control than you think!"

"I don't care how angry you get," he finally spoke. "I want you to suffer. I want you to know you're weak! To know you could never have won!"

"Keep talking," I said. "You'll let your guard down!"

"Not likely."

In a flash, I changed the Explosions to Demons Sabers. My effective range more than doubled, putting Kashiim within my reach again. I swung in a quick, but precise dance. I had perfected the form after sparring with Kaiten. But despite that, Kashiim dodged each swing, sometimes even diving between the blades as they passed.

He was making a show of this and the crowd was just eating it up! My cheeks burned as every attempt failed to land a hit. How could someone I had never even heard of make me look this inexperienced? I almost would have thought it was Kaiten in disguise if I didn't already know he was sitting in the bleachers. I had to do something drastic.

Thinking quickly, both blades pulled back into Explosions again. I adopted a different stance, aiming more for area coverage and making it impossible for Kashiim to grab or counter me. The blades flew wildly, overhead and around me as I advanced. Kashiim stepped back in time with me, not foolish enough to get too close. He kept an even distance, not letting me get any closer or further away. Every now and then, I would dart forward, but he would only jump back exactly as far.

_Perfect_.

As I kept up my defenses, I jumped forward and swung low at the ground, cutting through the sand. Kashiim did the same, leaping backwards and keeping up his pattern. As Azure reached the low point of the swing, I detonated the Explosion. Sand blasted into my stomach, but it was small damage, easily walked off. What I was aiming for was Kashiim. As a wave of sand overtook him, he covered his eyes with an arm.

I stepped in to the sand, pushing against it as hard as I could. I drove my remaining Explosion forward, transforming the blade into a Demon Saber and quickly shortening the distance between us, seeking to lance Kashiim's heart. Time slowed as I lurched forward, but Kashiim still saw the assault coming, and reached for his sword. Either way, it didn't matter. Either I'd pierce him, or cut his sword in half. I would still win either way. Kashiim's blade moved up to meet mine.

_Got you!_

As his sword met mine, not only did it not break, but it actually deflected. I was pushed off balance and fell to one knee. Reacting quickly, I punched the ground, using the momentum to step back as Kashiim made his own attack, stabbing the ground where I had been kneeling half a second before.

I stared at him in surprise, but he stared back, his face hidden beneath his cowl. He made no move to advance, keeping his sword drawn and at his side.

"How the hell did you do that?!" I demanded. "That should have cut your sword in half!"

"Maybe you're not as strong as you think," he said.

I knew it was impossible. My Demon Saber was basically a lightsaber. Out of everyone I had ever fought, the only person it didn't work on was Kaiten. Purple magic couldn't cut through other purple magic. So did that mean…

XXXXXXXX

Trevor's blade hit, that much Kaiten was certain. But when the fight didn't immediately turn in Trevor's favor, the hairs on the back of the Terran's neck rose. No one could have resisted the Demon Sabers, except for Kaiten himself. He would often infuse his Masamune with purple magic when dueling Trevor just so he wouldn't lose his favored weapons. The magics countered each other, but no one else on the planet could use purple magic. It was an art one had to be born with, something which didn't occur on Gaia.

While the crowd cheered, Kaiten speculated. _What is going on?_

XXXXXXXX

"You can use purple magic?!" I said. "I thought it was just Kaiten and me! How did you learn to use that?"

Kashiim refused to give a straight answer. "We all have our secrets. Now that you've forced my hand this much, there's little point in holding back."

He slipped his hand underneath his cloak and pulled a second sword out. His swords were a strange combination of eastern and western style swordcrafting. They were both thin blades, smaller than Kaiten's swords, but similar in build. A small crossguard protected both hands, but held deadly points. If he punched me with one of those, he would go right through any armor I had.

"Now we end this!" he shouted.

Kashiim rushed right for me. I took a step back and prepped my Explosions for another defensive dance, but he was on top of me before I was ready. His slashes came in soft, but so quickly that they were nearly invisible. I felt cuts grow all over my arms and legs before I saw them. I swung my short swords out, trying to gain distance, but Kashiim wasn't giving me a second to breathe. Blood sprayed everywhere and I was becoming a red, sticky mess.

Nothing I tried worked. By now, all I was really doing was flailing around, trying desperately to guess where the next attack would come from. As soon as I tried to parry though, Kashiim went right for the spot I happened to leave exposed. Whoever this guy was, he had far more experience than I did. He was toying with me. I redoubled my efforts, absorbing another slash on the legs instead of retreating, but it gave me a chance to strike in on Kashiim. I took the opening and grew Explosions on both short swords. The blades crashed together and blew up, engulfing both of us in a huge blast, causing incredible damage!

Or so I thought.

As I looked ahead to where Kashiim had been standing, I saw only my short swords. A light rustle from behind told me he had jumped over me and avoided most of the damage. I extended a single Demon Saber and tried to swing it all the way around, but it wasn't enough.

"You're done!" Kashiim said.

This time, I saw the sword before I felt it. My shirt tore and the metal broke free through my stomach. Two feet of steel protruded in front of me, covered in gore. I tried to call out, to scream from the anguish, but I only spat out a mouthful of blood. Kashiim kicked me hard in the back, pulling his sword free. I fell face down in the arena as the sand clung to my fresh wounds.

"This is your best?" Kashiim asked, circling me. He dragged the tip of his sword on the back of my neck, taunting me. If I tried to get up, he would sever my spine. "This is pathetic! How could someone like you ruin Terra? Or brainwash the Lieutenant?"

_What?!_ I had no idea what he was talking about, but the way he said it made me break out in a cold sweat.

He knelt down to me, sword pressing harder against my neck. "I can tell you this now since the fools in the audience cant hear me, but I know all of what you did. Every single atrocity. Every single move. I know about the experiment, how you controlled the Lieutenant after he was injected into your head. I can only assume you played dirty to sway him. I know what you are. _Earthling!_" He said the last word like he was calling me a Nazi.

Now I was really worried. Except for Captain Delores and General Beatrix, I hadn't told anyone outside of the World Heroes that I was from Earth. Who was this guy and how could he possibly know who I was? How did he know Kaiten and I once shared the same body? I would have pondered these questions more, but I was concentrating too much on the sword gently gracing my back.

"It looks like this is the end folks!" the barker called from the center of the arena. "Despite a very worthy effort, Trevor McEvoy is pinned! It looks like Kashiim Ordell is our next winner!"

"Don't even think about that," Kashiim taunted. "They won't get a chance to save you. You'll be dead before the white mages cast their first spell."

He dragged the blade, this time digging it into my skin and tearing my armor apart. The mythril I wore was nothing compared to the old obsidian armor I lost in Memoria, and gave way to the purple magic in his sword. He stopped dragging and sank the blade slowly, agonizingly into my lung. Breathing became even harder than before, and every gasp sputtered up more blood.

"That's enough!" the barker called, running to my aid. "The winner is Kashiim Ordell! Now let him up!" White mages were running right behind him, one was already casting.

"No you don't!" Kashiim said. With his first sword still lodged firmly into my chest, he sank his second into the sand. A second later, an explosion erupted from underneath the mages, which sent them flying. The barker was calling for assistance from the city guards, but Kashiim took it all in stride, laughing all the while.

"Isn't it great?" he cried, as if he was talking to the entire coliseum, but I could tell it was meant for me. "None of you have any idea what's in store for your primitive planet! You've only stalled us! You haven't stopped us!"

Everything was going dark. Every twitch sent a jolt of fire through my entire chest. Every cut on my body burned. My clothes clung to my skin. Kashiim was fending off everything the guards sent at him and having the time of his life. This was not how I pictured today going.

But it wasn't how I was going to let the day end!

Tightening my grip on my short sword, I sent a trickle of energy forth. It wasn't much, but I was able to form a thin ring at Crimson's tip. Kashiim didn't notice it at first as the red blade rose, lining up with his arm. It pushed the energy forth, weakly coughing a new mouthful of blood.

"Pulse…"

The biting ring of energy cut through the air. It wasn't much, but it was enough. Kashiim must have assumed me either dead or too weak to fight him, because the Pulse actually hit him! There was very little to it though, and it only sliced him, instead of severing his arm off. Kashiim jumped up, giving me just enough room to push myself back onto my knees, and then to my feet. I powered up a very small Demon Saber and cut the sword in my chest in half. The blade fell and I pulled the hilt out from my back. Another spurt of blood splashed onto the ground.

"You," I gasped, pointing to the barker. "Match is still goin'… I ain't dead yet…"

The crowd ate it up. There wasn't a single person in the coliseum who wasn't cheering their loudest. I was still bleeding though, and with the fight back on, I wasn't going to get any help from the white mages. I had maybe a minute before I bled out. So far, my training and my magic weren't working. Well, most of it. I still had one trick to play.

"You are persistent, I'll give you that," Kashiim admitted. The wind had ruffled his cloak a little and I could see how wide his grin was. Most of the cloak was covered in my blood. "Most people would have been killed by now. How can you stand right now?"

This pain was nothing. On Terra, when we attacked Innural, I was the one who had endured the para-lance as Kaiten pushed it out of our body. That whole experience nearly made me black out. Compared to that, this pain was just a bug bite. "I took a spear for a buddy once. Much worse than your chopstick there. And I might have the edge now that you're missing one."

He chuckled. "It's all I've needed so far, and you'll be dead in a minute whether I attack or not. And along with your massive blood loss, your purple magic is fading as well. You have nothing left."

He laughed, but so did I. "You're right about one thing." I unlocked another magic as more magic poured form my sword. Azure began to cry as water trickled down from the blade. A small spark lit at Crimson's tip and Kashiim eyed both blades carefully.

"These short swords were made by some Black Mage smiths for me," I said. "Very good. Top of the line. And I've never been able to do them justice until only recently."

"What did you have in mind?"

"I own a flamethrower."

Azure's trickle became a surge as water blasted out like a broken fire hydrant. I brought it and Crimson together, lighting the flowing stream and setting it alight. The rushing inferno came, so wide and fast that Kashiim never had time to dodge. He covered his head with his arms as the fire overtook him, burning him all over.

When the flames died down, I fell to one knee, drained. With as little strength as I had left and my injuries catching up with me, that was the best attack I had left outside of trancing, and I was already too weak for that. However, all my efforts were for nothing. As the flames cleared, Kashiim was still standing tall. All I had done was burn away his cloak. But that wasn't what surprised me.

His armor was a heavy, but flexible kind, dark blue in color. An armor set I was quite familiar with. "You're wearing obsidian armor? How? That only comes from Terra!"

Kashiim towered over me now. His dark blond hair fell flat against his cheeks and his dark eyes looked down at me in rage. This man wasn't just set for a tournament. He was set for war.

"You just had to push it didn't you!?" he yelled. "You couldn't just roll over dead! But I suppose there wouldn't be any satisfaction in killing you if you were really that weak."

He stepped up to me and delivered a solid kick to the jaw. I fell back, hard, and he pressed his foot down on my neck. As I laid choking, the barker tried to rally the guards and white mages. Kashiim ignored them and pressed a finger to his ear until something clicked.

"Guy's, it's time!" he said to apparently no one. "Remus, Cyl, take out the target. Zareth, keep everyone else busy."

I tried to bring my short swords up to attack, but Kashiim just kicked them away. "You're not getting up. You'll have to suffer for taking Kaiten away from us!"

_Kaiten?!_ I wondered, as everything started to go dark.

XXXXXXXX

"Copy that boss," Remus said. He pushed himself up from the stony seat. Too bad. He had just gotten comfortable. "You ready big guy?"

"Of course!" Cyl said, rising beside him. He stood out only a little from the crowd, but as there were other armored knights in the audience, he didn't draw too much attention.

A booming roar echoed over the city, coming from outside the coliseum. "Sounds like Zareth is already on it," Remus said, channeling his magic. "Which monster do you think he chose?"

"By the roar, I would guess Belias." A pillar of flames erupted a few blocks down, taking with it an entire house. "Yes, Belias, certainly."

"Then it's our turn. Watch my back, I'm gonna take out the False Terran in one blow!"

Remus aimed for the Alexandrian royal booth, and unleashed a Firaga at the front window, forcing its way inside.

XXXXXXXX

By now, the fight had gone from epic showdown to one-sided brawl. The crowd was growing worried since Kashiim only seemed interested in torturing and maybe killing Trevor. The fact he was willing to attack the city guards made it obvious to Kaiten that it was time to intervene, but when he saw who was under that heavy cloak, he was grounded.

"Aitris…" he gasped. His old Sergeant, returned from the dead, just like Kaiten had been. How was it possible? Innural said he had used all the souls of the Spectral Knights. That lying bastard had tricked him again!

"Kaiten!" Dante shouted, waking the Terran from his stupor. "Are we just going to stay here? Trevor's dying!"

By now, Aitris was standing on Trevor's neck, choking the life from him. Twin explosions rocked the city as flames burst out of the Alexandrian Royal booth and deeper in town. A fissure opened up and fire erupted from the cracks, demolishing entire streets in seconds. It was a standard tactic they often employed by using Zareth to distract while taking out a specific target. That target had to be Trevor.

As the town came under attack, the Barker shouted for everyone to leave, which they complied with hastily. Families were separated and people were trampled in the panic. It seemed that out of the entire coliseum, only Kaiten and Dante stood tall.

"Wayne," Kaiten shouted over the screaming crowd. "Take the kids, get to the Invincible, and get out of here! All of Alexandria is under attack!"

"Fine," Wayne said, taking the kids by the hand. "But what about you?"

"Dante and I are going to fight! Dante, be ready for anything! We don't know how many of the Spectral Knights are here, so another attack can come from anywhere. Keep your head on a swivel!"

Dante pulled a rifle from his back and cocked it. "I'm right behind you!"

The ground shook from Zareth's summoned monster, which was busy destroying everything in sight. Wayne lead the kids to safety while Kaiten charged down the steps towards the arena, and untold danger.

XXXXXXXX

"Your highness, we have to leave!" the Lindblum guard shouted.

"Yes, of course!" Regent Cid agreed. "Hilda, Eiko, come now. We must make our way to the Hilde Garde 4!"

"But the Alexandrian Royal Booth exploded!" Eiko said. "What if they're hurt? We have to stay and help!"

Lady Hilda knelt down to EIko's side and quickly said, "Queen Dagger and King Zidane are protected by Captain Steiner and General Beatrix. They're much safer than we are. Your father's right Eiko, we need to leave."

"But I can help!" Eiko protested. "I can heal anyone who's hurt, and help them get away! And I can summon Mog, and fight—"

"NO!" Cid shouted as another explosion rocked the building. "I will not allow my own daughter to create those monsters! Now Eiko, do as I say and follow the guards back to the airship!"

"But father—"

"I SAID NO! AND THAT'S FINAL!"

Another explosion disintegrated a row of vendors in town. Each blast was coming closer to the coliseum. Eiko knew that if they didn't leave now, they would all be caught up in the ensuing frenzy. She lowered her head and said, "Yes, father."

"Good," Cid said. He nodded to the captain of their royal guard. "Nigel, send a runner to the Hilde Garde. Tell them to start the engines, but to let on anyone they can carry. We have to help any refugees who come our way. Take them out of the city and we'll bring them back when the chaos as subsided."

"Yes sir!" came the reply.

"Good. Now Hilde, Eiko, shall we…Eiko?"

People were hurt. People were dying! Eiko did not face down the end of the world to cower in a world of puffed pastries and fancy dresses. Running back into the royal booth, she pulled her Angel Flute from her sleeve and leapt through the open window into the stands.

Regent Cid lost sight of his daughter in seconds, even as he raced after her. "Eiko! EIKOOOO!"

XXXXXXXX

Something had exploded in their booth. It was so sudden that it was remarkable that Beatrix had been able to react at all. Putting up a Shell to deflect it, the valiant warrior had protected Garnet and Zidane from harm, but at personal cost. Her sword arm had been badly burned and a trickle of blood graced down it. The spell was phenomenally strong.

"Diana!" Steiner shouted. He was to her side in seconds.

"I'm fine Adelbert," Beatrix insisted. "It's merely a scratch."

"You nearly lost your arm!"

"That doesn't matter now!" Beatrix rose and addressed the royals. "Your highnesses. Are you unharmed?"

"Yes, thanks to you," Dagger said. "Vivi, how about you?"

"I-I'm fine," the little mage said. It had been so long since his last fight that he wasn't used to them anymore. "That spell was so strong! I'm not sure I could cast a Firaga like that!"

Dagger turned back to the General. "Did you happen to see where the attack came from?"

Beatrix charged a spell, casting Cura on herself. "From the stands to the left, but I didn't see where specifically."

"We have to get out there!" Zidane said. He pointed at a guard. "You, run to the castle and grab The Tower!"

"Zidane, don't!" Dagger said. "We need to stay back! You're king now, so we can't risk your death!"

"But we can't just stand here! Just look at Trevor!"

"And we won't!" Dagger walked behind her throne and pulled her staff out. She charged a spell, standing by the window only briefly, then casting a Cura over Trevor. "Beatrix, I need you to take the guards into the arena and arrest that man! I will not allow him to get away with this! And send a second squadron into the city to stop whoever else is creating these explosions!"

"At once your highness." Beatrix unsheathed her bloodstained blade. "And if they refuse to give in?"

"You have full authority to execute all of them."

"Very well," Beatrix saluted.

"Be careful," Steiner called after her as she ran out the door. "In that case your highness, I shall remain behind and defend you with my life!"

"No, Steiner," Dagger said. "We have enough guards already. What I need you to do is find whoever attacked us here. Like Beatrix, you are to take him down by whatever means necessary."

"Very well," Steiner said. "But I may need help. Master Vivi, would you join me?"

"Me?!" Vivi blurted out. "But… I haven't fought in so long!"

"Perhaps, but we will be facing a powerful mage. Who else better to fight him than someone who has mastered the very magic we hope to overcome?"

Vivi looked back at Dagger and Zidane, then thought of Trevor, who continued to fight even with a sword sticking through his lung. They had all faced far worse odds than this. Lives had to be saved. He could be brave one more time!

"Alright," he said. "I'll try my best!" He now used his staff as a walking stick more times than not, but the Mace of Zeus was still one of the most powerful artifacts imaginable. Vivi carried it with him everywhere. He could already feel the magic flowing through him. It was just like old times.

"Hold on to me," Steiner said, hoisting Vivi onto his shoulder. As soon as the little mage had a good grip, Steiner stepped into the stands below, and then into the chaos.

"It's not enough," Zidane paced. "We should be out there, leading the troops!"

"That's what we have Beatrix for," Dagger said, trying to calm her raging husband. "Zidane, I've told you before how reckless it was of me to venture into Memoria with you. If I died, the Alexandrian royal lineage would fall. The country needs its ruler."

"Yes, but you also said that you don't regret going to Memoria!"

Zidane's quip caught Dagger off-guard. She cold only look below at the guards now entering the arena. Curiously, she also saw Kaiten and Dante of the Tempest Brotherhood jumping in, as well as Freya and Amarant coming out of the Readying Room. Soon, the fighter known as Kashiim Ordell was surrounded. Surely he couldn't stop all the fighters at once.

Just then, one more person entered the stands, barely catching Dagger's attention at first. She squinted as a familiar sparkle shined just outside the arena.

"Eiko?"

Dagger gripped the namesake stone at her chest. "Zidane, I was wrong. There is something else we have to do!"

XXXXXXXX

A white light passed over me as a Cura came from somewhere. Most of my wounds patched themselves up and the pain subsided somewhat in my chest. I wasn't about to question the sudden turn in luck, though Kashiim still had a pretty good hold against my neck. I thrashed underfoot, just trying to take a breath.

I looked around for my short swords, but instead saw Kaiten rushing the arena. Most of the audience had fled, leaving the stands bare, save for Steiner and Vivi, facing off against a heavily armored knight and another man in a cloak and steeple-crowned hat. They looked like reinforcements for Kashiim.

"AITRIS!"

Kaiten led the way as he and Dante jumped into the sandy pit. Dante immediately took aim, though a wave of Kaiten's hand told him not to fire. A contingent of Alexandrian guards led by General Beatrix came in from the left, while Freya and Amarant joined from the right. They soon closed the gap, leaving Kashiim, or Aitris as Kaiten called him, secluded. I tried to think back, remembering that Airtis was Kaiten's second in command of the Spectral Knights. But he was supposed to be dead! Even with my own death notwithstanding, this seemed unlikely.

"You're surrounded!" said Beatrix. "Turn yourself in and we won't have to kill you!"

"Turn myself in?" Aitris asked. "Why? None of you could provide a challenge. And besides, what I want is right here anyway." He turned to Kaiten and gave a brief salute. "Lieutenant. It's good to see you again."

"Aitris!" Kaiten gasped. "It really is you! What are you doing here? Get off of him!"

"Sorry, can't do that Kaiten," Aitris said. He kept his sole sword ready. I could feel it burning hot with purple magic. "We know what this bastard did to you. He has to die!"

"Casters!" Beatrix called to her troops. "Ready yourselves!"

"Hold it! All of you!" Kaiten shouted to everyone. "Everyone stay back. This is between him and me. Aitris, what do you mean what he did to me? Are the others alive? How many of us are left?"

"All of us!" Aitris said happily. "We're all alive boss. We just need you back, after I kill this bastard here." I stopped my struggling when Aitris' blade found its way to my throat.

"Aitris, STOP!" Kaiten yelled. He charged his own blades with magic and stepped forward. "You can't do that! Leave Trevor alone, he has nothing to do with this!"

"He has EVERYTHING to do with this! We know he brainwashed you! Turned you against Terra! That's why you went along in trying to destroy it, isn't it?"

"Destroy? Then Terra really is gone?"

Aitris smiled. He sword lifted a few inches away from me. "No, it isn't! We found a way to bring it back! There is a way Kaiten, and we want you there with us when it happens!"

"I'll gladly join you," Kaiten said. He sheathed one sword and took a few steps forward. "We can go right now, but this is enough! No one else has to die!"

"BUT THEY DO!" Aitris shouted. The sword was against my throat again. I could feel a trickle of hot blood dripping down to my back. "He, and the False Terran! They tried to destroy Terra! And this one! He took you away from us! He tricked you, played you. The rest of us can help you! But first, I have to kill _him!_"

The blade at my neck grew hotter, burning my skin. I grabbed Aitris' ankle and tried to lift him off, but he was too strong!

"Aitris! Stop this!" Kaiten swung his Masamune sharply, sending an Arc into Aitris' chest. As the maddened Terran finally fell from on top of me, he shot a bolt of magic from his sword, which cratered into the ground mere inches from my head. I scampered to my feet, picking up my short swords and turning to face him once again. I was just glad I could breathe.

"Kaiten?" Aitris said, slowly getting back to his feet. He looked hurt, like he had just been stabbed in the back. "No, it's ok, I'm not mad at you. But you!" he pointed his sword at me. "You're going to die for this! I'll see to that personally!"

As if the situation couldn't get any worse for the surviving Spectral Knights, two new shadows were cast over the coliseum. Emerging from summoned light, Madeen appeared behind Freya and Amarant, while Bahamut appeared behind the Alexandrian guard. Aitris looked between the two titans and frowned. He pressed his fingers to his ear and said, "Zareth, we're against a wall here. See if you can find your way to us."

There was an explosion behind the coliseum, and Aitris looked at his former lieutenant. "Kaiten, don't worry! We WILL rescue you, I swear it!"

XXXXXXXX

So far, the Spectral Knights were putting up a much bigger fight than either Steiner of Vivi could have expected. Steiner couldn't even touch the armored man, and Vivi's spells were being deflected like flies. Every hit that Steiner made was ineffective. The few that made it to the giant man's sword couldn't block didn't even scratch his armor. Even Steiner's Armor Break skill proved useless. Vivi opted for the fast cast technique Trevor had taught him. He used simple Fire and Thunder spells, but the new spellcaster simply intercepted them with matching spells, muting them like a lightning rod. What confused him though, was that this man didn't cast with a staff. He just seemed to use his bare hands.

Steiner and Vivi fell back, apparently in for more of a fight than they expected. "They're strong," Steiner said. "No luck on your end I suppose?"

"None!" Vivi said. "It's like he can control everything I throw at him!"

"And I'm having similar luck," Steiner admitted. "But I do suppose there's a way around their defenses. All we need to do is trade targets. I'm sure your magic will be more than enough for the knight, and the mage doesn't look like he would fare well against a broadsword."

Vivi looked at the giant and gulped, but gripped his staff bravely. "Alright. I'll… try my best!"

But before they could move into action, both assailants dropped their guard and pressed their fingers against their ears. They each looked around as Madeen and Bahamut made the scene and nodded. "You got it Sarge!" the mage said.

Both soldiers pulled small canisters form their belts and pulled a tab on the top, throwing it away. The knight dropped one can at his feet while the mage tossed his to the fighter in the arena.

"What are you doing?" Steiner demanded. "What is that?"

"Just a delay," the mage calmly answered. "Don't worry, we _will_ finish this!"

Just then, the stands erupted, sending debris and concrete in every direction. An intense heat came over everyone remaining in the coliseum as a beast with an enormous body, four arms and large rams horns atop his head. He was covered in red fur, coating him like a mane, fueling the fire that danced about him. He carried a staff, adorned with horns matching his head, curving into a gnarled twist.

"What?!" Steiner gasped. "Is that an Eidolon?!"

"Esper," the mage answered. "But we don't have time to stick around. See ya later!"

The canisters exploded, releasing a thick cloud from them. Steiner and Vivi were so surprised that they both jumped back, blinded by the smoke and thrown into a coughing fit. The canister below exploded as well, sending the whole coliseum into a dark haze. Everyone remaining tried to wave the smoke away and clear the air, save for one man. One man too shocked to even react. One man who couldn't believe his friends were still alive.

XXXXXXXX

Kaiten stood alone in the field. Though allies, friends and his employees, surrounded him, he hadn't felt this alone since he woke up in Hart Innural's testing labs, surrounded by the soulless bodies of his team. The Spectral Knights were alive and well, and apparently even wanted him back, but something was wrong. Very, very wrong, and Kaiten had no idea what to do or how to find them. He was no longer the sole Terran he had once been, but as the smoke finally cleared, he saw fully the damage done by his former team.

Alexandria was burning. The Army was already hard at work putting out the flames, but several city blocks were destroyed, and who knew how many lives had been lost. Even the tournament had been ruined, with Trevor very nearly becoming one of the fatalities himself. As he turned back, Kaiten felt the accusing eyes from some of the guardsmen, as well as General Beatrix. Though Trevor and Dante, two men he now considered friends, stared on in concern, it did little to offset the emotional turmoil and confusion he felt.

"Terra can be rebuilt," Kaiten muttered to himself. "The Spectral Knights shall never die."


End file.
